Shatranj Ke Khiladi analysis by Namrata The 1977 multi-starrer Shatranj ke Khiladi made by Satyajit Ray is based on a short story of the same name, written by Munshi Premchand in 1924. Set in Lucknow, 1856, the film narrates two parallel threads: the private, obsessive world of two noblemen, Mirza Sajjad Ali (Sanjeev Kumar) and Mir Roshan Ali (Saeed Jaffrey), who are so engrossed in their game of chess that they remain oblivious to the British annexation of their kingdom; and the political maneuverings between Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (Amjad Khan) and the British East India Company, led by General Outram (Sir Richard Attenborough). Ray enriches the short story by fleshing out the political backdrop with remarkable attention to detail. Wajid Ali Shah, traditionally dismissed as an effeminate and ineffective ruler, is portrayed with surprising sympathy. In Amjad Khan’s nuanced performance, the Nawab emerges as a poet-king, more a victim of history than an agent of his own demise. His artist...
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