Watching 'Shatranj ke Khilari'(The Chess Players) by Satyajit Ray was a pleasant disappointment. Let me explain both, 'pleasant' and 'disappointment', one by one. Without any doubt, it's an excellent movie, by all standards of movie making. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It has an excellent script, richly talented cast, and consummately meticulous direction. However, I was disappointed because, this movie is based on a short story by one of the greatest writers of Hindi literature, Munshi Premchand, and...... I have read the story!
But before getting into analyzing this movie in detail, let's have the story.
'Shatranj ke Khilari' has rather two parallel stories. One is about King Wajid Ali Shah, the last king of Oudh, and the other is about two aristocrat friends, Mirza Sajjad Ali and Mir Roshan Ali, who share a terrific obsession with the game of Chess (Shatranj). Events in the story take place in the year 1824, in the city of Lucknow - capital of the state of Oudh, where patriotic values and national integrity have disappeared in the abyss of affluence. Three main characters are totally captivated by their own obsessions. King is obsessed with dances, poetry and music, completely ignoring administration. Similarly Mirza and Mir, for their addiction of the game of Chess, ignore their homes and their wives. Wife of Mirza continually throws tantrums to make her presence felt, with little success; while the wife of Mir has sought refuge in an extra marital affair with a distant nephew. Two stories run parallel. British administration, which has a treaty with the State of Oudh, denounces the treaty, on the grounds that the king is an incompetent administrator, and takes over reigns of Oudh. The King surrenders, without protest. On the other hand, two friends, who have to run away from the city, fearing that they would be compelled to fight for their country, find a deserted and lonely place to play Chess. They engage into an argument, where Mirza taunts Mir about his wife's infidelity and agitated Mir, by mistake misfires a bullet at him. However, their obsession with Chess is too much for any other feeling to take over. They resolve their differences and resign to their obsession, and continue playing chess.
What impressed me the most about the movie was language. This was the first non-Bengali directorial venture of Satyajit Ray. Even though the language of the movie is mainly Urdu, one cannot feel that director is not well verse with the language. Moreover, people of different strata of the society have been shown speaking in different accents. Servants and people from countryside are shown speaking Oudhi, a local dialect, while aristocrats speak precise and exceptionally polite, Urdu. It's a role model for a period movie. Sets, costumes, and outdoors speak richly about vivid architecture and interiors of households of Lucknow in early nineteenth century. The Movie also boasts of a very strong cast. Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey, as Mirza and Mir respectively, are brilliant. Amitabh Bachchan, as invisible narrator, is superb as ever. Richard Attenborough is also impressive. Even in smaller roles, Ray has chosen some very powerful actors. However, choosing Amjad Khan as the King is a masterstroke. The original story doesn't talk much about the King. Hence, developing a full character of King Wajid was a tough job. But here director seems to have done extensive research on him. King Wajid Ali has a very important place in the history of Indian Arts. He is hailed as one of the most prodigious promoters of Thumri (A form of classical music) and Kathak (A popular form of classical dance from northern India). In this paradoxical character, Amjad portrays the masculinity of a King and effeminacy of a man dedicated to dance, poetry and music, with equal conviction. Music of the movie is also a plus. In most of the scenes, one can listen to melodious thumris or other compositions of Indian classical music being played in the background.
However, as I mentioned before, watching this movie was pleasant as well as disappointing. The first source of disappointment is the feeling that an opportunity to accommodate some more melodious music has been lost. Since, King Wajid is one of the central characters of the movie; there was definitely a greater opportunity for some more music and elegant dances.
However, the biggest disappointment comes from Ray's reinterpretation (or misinterpretation) of Munshi's story. At some places, Ray has deviated from the original story. In the original story, wife of Mir has an extra marital affair with an army officer. Munshi Premchand wanted to show that responsible people in army were also engaged in such activities ignoring the danger of a war with the British. For some unknown reasons, Ray has shown that Mir's wife has an extra marital affair with a distant nephew. However, the biggest alteration has been made in the climax of the story and this destroys the very patriotic essence of the story. In the original story, both the characters, Mirza and Mir, end up killing each other. Munshi Premchand, very categorically mentions twice, that they did not lack 'personal valor' but didn't want to use qualities of courage and bravery for their nation. Munshi Premchand was a patriotic writer. He wanted to show that prosperity made the Indian elite lazy, myopic and lackadaisical, and fated India with foreign rule. On the other hand, Ray kept them alive, and actually portrays them as impotent people, who accept their cowardice as a fact of life New York Times Review of the movie (DT: May 17, 1978) wrote Ray Satirizes Indian Nobility: Civilized Impotency. This is definitely not how Munshi meant it to be. In order to have a greater universal appeal, and fetch more awards, Ray killed the very patriotic soul of the story.
I heartily wish that some day, somebody would re-make this movie and do justice to this wonderful story and Munshi Premchand.
But before getting into analyzing this movie in detail, let's have the story.
'Shatranj ke Khilari' has rather two parallel stories. One is about King Wajid Ali Shah, the last king of Oudh, and the other is about two aristocrat friends, Mirza Sajjad Ali and Mir Roshan Ali, who share a terrific obsession with the game of Chess (Shatranj). Events in the story take place in the year 1824, in the city of Lucknow - capital of the state of Oudh, where patriotic values and national integrity have disappeared in the abyss of affluence. Three main characters are totally captivated by their own obsessions. King is obsessed with dances, poetry and music, completely ignoring administration. Similarly Mirza and Mir, for their addiction of the game of Chess, ignore their homes and their wives. Wife of Mirza continually throws tantrums to make her presence felt, with little success; while the wife of Mir has sought refuge in an extra marital affair with a distant nephew. Two stories run parallel. British administration, which has a treaty with the State of Oudh, denounces the treaty, on the grounds that the king is an incompetent administrator, and takes over reigns of Oudh. The King surrenders, without protest. On the other hand, two friends, who have to run away from the city, fearing that they would be compelled to fight for their country, find a deserted and lonely place to play Chess. They engage into an argument, where Mirza taunts Mir about his wife's infidelity and agitated Mir, by mistake misfires a bullet at him. However, their obsession with Chess is too much for any other feeling to take over. They resolve their differences and resign to their obsession, and continue playing chess.
What impressed me the most about the movie was language. This was the first non-Bengali directorial venture of Satyajit Ray. Even though the language of the movie is mainly Urdu, one cannot feel that director is not well verse with the language. Moreover, people of different strata of the society have been shown speaking in different accents. Servants and people from countryside are shown speaking Oudhi, a local dialect, while aristocrats speak precise and exceptionally polite, Urdu. It's a role model for a period movie. Sets, costumes, and outdoors speak richly about vivid architecture and interiors of households of Lucknow in early nineteenth century. The Movie also boasts of a very strong cast. Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey, as Mirza and Mir respectively, are brilliant. Amitabh Bachchan, as invisible narrator, is superb as ever. Richard Attenborough is also impressive. Even in smaller roles, Ray has chosen some very powerful actors. However, choosing Amjad Khan as the King is a masterstroke. The original story doesn't talk much about the King. Hence, developing a full character of King Wajid was a tough job. But here director seems to have done extensive research on him. King Wajid Ali has a very important place in the history of Indian Arts. He is hailed as one of the most prodigious promoters of Thumri (A form of classical music) and Kathak (A popular form of classical dance from northern India). In this paradoxical character, Amjad portrays the masculinity of a King and effeminacy of a man dedicated to dance, poetry and music, with equal conviction. Music of the movie is also a plus. In most of the scenes, one can listen to melodious thumris or other compositions of Indian classical music being played in the background.
However, as I mentioned before, watching this movie was pleasant as well as disappointing. The first source of disappointment is the feeling that an opportunity to accommodate some more melodious music has been lost. Since, King Wajid is one of the central characters of the movie; there was definitely a greater opportunity for some more music and elegant dances.
However, the biggest disappointment comes from Ray's reinterpretation (or misinterpretation) of Munshi's story. At some places, Ray has deviated from the original story. In the original story, wife of Mir has an extra marital affair with an army officer. Munshi Premchand wanted to show that responsible people in army were also engaged in such activities ignoring the danger of a war with the British. For some unknown reasons, Ray has shown that Mir's wife has an extra marital affair with a distant nephew. However, the biggest alteration has been made in the climax of the story and this destroys the very patriotic essence of the story. In the original story, both the characters, Mirza and Mir, end up killing each other. Munshi Premchand, very categorically mentions twice, that they did not lack 'personal valor' but didn't want to use qualities of courage and bravery for their nation. Munshi Premchand was a patriotic writer. He wanted to show that prosperity made the Indian elite lazy, myopic and lackadaisical, and fated India with foreign rule. On the other hand, Ray kept them alive, and actually portrays them as impotent people, who accept their cowardice as a fact of life New York Times Review of the movie (DT: May 17, 1978) wrote Ray Satirizes Indian Nobility: Civilized Impotency. This is definitely not how Munshi meant it to be. In order to have a greater universal appeal, and fetch more awards, Ray killed the very patriotic soul of the story.
I heartily wish that some day, somebody would re-make this movie and do justice to this wonderful story and Munshi Premchand.