Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977)

Directed by Satyajit Ray. Starring Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Amjad Khan, Shabana Azmi, Farida Jalal, Richard Attenborough, Victor Banerjee, Tom Alter, Veena Kumari, Farooq Sheikh.

The private, lighthearted encounters between two indolent Indian men of the noble class fixated on chess (as a game and a metaphor, naturally) with the eve of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as a backdrop; additional scenes show representatives of the British East India Company squaring off against the country’s political and religious authority. Late, accessible effort from Satijayat Ray tackled great scope of turmoil and change, but often in small, intimate, even comical terms. Droll performances from the chess players, plus a nice turn from Attenborough as a British general, enliven this quietly absorbing story, which provides enlightening historical context and amusing glimpses into the sort of negligent, shuttered attitudes that could allow such a seismic shift to take place. India’s first ever submission for Oscar consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category…and, of course, the Academy didn’t have the good sense to nominate it. English title translation: The Chess Players.

88/100