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The Chess Players Streaming.
Movie Title: The Chess Players The Chess Players is available for streaming or downloading. |
Ray’s “The Chess Players” is his only film in Hindi/Urdu and is a masterful portrayal of one of the key moments in current Indian history - where history’s largest multinational corporation - the East India Company - is state to retract over governance over the province of Awadh, ultimately sparking rebellion and the beginnings of the British Raj that would last until 1947. Ray’s film is current in so far as it exposes the decadence and complacency of the Indian elite - magnificently embodied by Jaffrey and Kumar and Khan as the Nawaab - at a time when British designs on India should have been apparent. The elite spent its time smoking hookahs, playing chess, composing poetry and operas oblivious to the creeping British authority that would ultimately wipe it away. The analogy or metaphor throughout is that of the chess-board, whereby the British have ultimately “checked” their Indian subjects without the latter even having realized. The performances are excellent; the screenplay, in classical Urdu is glowing and the message - that countries colonized ultimately must portion some of the blame for their fate - provides plenty food for concept.
Written and directed by internationally acclaimed Indian filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, “The Chess Players” is an award-winning film which would appeal to an international audience for its historic assure blended with human drama and touches of humour and irony. Unlike most Indian films known as `Bollywood’, this film has none of the usual features of the well-liked musicals, and in fact, adds a few of its believe novel touches such as humorous animation to elaborate the historic setting of the myth. Although there is a brief song and dance scene, it is piece of a performance given to the king, and the only touch of Bollywood is the narrator, `Mr Bollywood’ himself, Amitabh Bachchan. His narration explains the station in India in 1856 when the British East India Company encroached on the last bastion of Indian rulership, but far from being an consuming, action-packed thrilling war movie, “The Chess Players” tells a more realistic myth about attitudes, cultures and the personal lives of a few people caught up in the changing tide of events. The chess players are two friends who are so preoccupied with playing chess all day that they neglect their family responsibilities and are unperturbed by the British plans to bewitch over their city. Even the Indian ruler himself prefers to effect songs and poems, hover kites and be entertained by his harem rather than wait on to the affairs of dwelling, and no doubt this film is something of a social statement as well as a history lesson. But rather than a dry and boring historic anecdote, Ray has managed to state the whole fable through the two main characters, the chess players, often with a tongue-in-cheek humour which makes the film highly palatable. Although realistic, there is composed an fine and artistic style overall, and “The Chess Players” is also visually impressive, with colourful authentic costumes of the period, staunch Mogul buildings and palaces, as well as characters speaking their contain languages. There are several scenes with English, and easy-to-follow English subtitles when locals are speaking Hindi or Urdu. Very authentic, frail Indian music is also heard at times in the background, adding to the overall realistic atmosphere of this period film. There is no mammoth, thrilling climax, suspense or attempts to overly entertain except perhaps with the subtle comedy about realistic events and human relationships, and perhaps this very feature of being down-to-earth makes “The Chess Players” a welcome change from either Bollywood or Hollywood, and although it was filmed in 1977, it is peaceful new and even timeless due to its subject matter and first class performances by the fair actors, one of whom is Sir Richard Attenborough as the British General. For an authentic, fine dose of trusty India and its heavenly royal history (albeit in decline), this film is hard to beat.
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