The Chess Players

Introduced by Suresh Jindal and followed by a signing of My Adventures with Satyajit Ray: The Making of Shatranj Ke Khilari (HarperCollins, 2017) by Suresh Jindal.

“Famed for its sophistication and faded splendors, the ‘golden city’ of Lucknow provides the perfect backdrop for Ray’s first historical film, a wry elegy set in an 1850s India on the brink of English rule, and shot in an appropriately sumptuous Technicolor. More concerned with personal pleasure than political spheres, two oblivious landowners take refuge in games of chess, little noticing that both they and their country are about to become pawns for an entirely different kind of king and queen. Richard Attenborough and the Bollywood actor Amjad Khan star in this gorgeously decadent and ironic work, filled with music, dance, sets, and costumes lovingly re-created from the era.” — BAMPFA

Producer Suresh Jindal has made several iconic films, including Basu Chatterjee’s Rajnigandha, Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khilari and The Chess Players, Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (associate producer), and Mani Kaul’s Naukar Ki Kameez. He is also the executive producer of Vara: A Blessing, a film by Khyentse Norbu. His films have won four Filmfare Awards and eight Academy Awards (Gandhi).

Jindal is former vice president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association, and a recipient of the French government’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chevalier award, which recognizes significant contribution to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance. He has written many articles on cinema and Buddhism, as well as a best-selling book on his work with Ray.

Film Details

Country: India

Language: Hindi

Year: 1977

Running time: 129 min

Format:
35mm

Director: Satyajit Ray

Screenwriter: Satyajit Ray

Producer: Suresh Jindal

Cinematographer: Soumendu Roy

Editor: Dulal Dutta
Source: Academy Film Archive

Films and schedules may be subject to change.

Modern Cinema’s Founding Supporters are Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein. Generous support is provided by Nion McEvoy and the Susan Wildberg Morgenstein Fund.

The Chess Players is co-presented with The Asia Society of Northern California.