Shatranj Ke Khilari

"Yes. Satyajit Ray’s film made the story very accessible worldwide. It is about two royal courtiers’ obsession with the game of chess and they are so absorbed in the game they have no time to look at their state affairs or their king being deposed. In fact, the game of chess is played out when the British are annexing the empire of Awadh. Not even the sight of their king, Wajid Ali Shah, being dragged through the streets by English soldiers could divert the attention of the two players from their game. But they end up killing each other when one accuses the other of cheating. The irony is quite explicit about two courtiers (who are also soldiers) willing to kill each other over accusation of cheating in a game of chess, but who do nothing to stop their state from being annexed by the English. And the larger connection with sportsmanship is the idea that chess is a battle game a bit like empire building, but the British weren’t playing by the rules and being sportsmanlike. The characters are so engrossed in the chess game they fail to see what is going on around them. It is like they are too wound up with the smaller details and aren’t looking at the bigger picture. What is implicit in the story is they are so used to playing by the rules they can’t see that the British are moving outside the rules. It is a very interesting juxtaposition of these two games, the Empire and chess. After all, that time in history is often referred to as the Great Game. The two princes are little pawns unable to save their land or their king. They get themselves killed because of an accusation of cheating in a game of chess but are unable to see that they were being cheated out of their own land!"