The Chess Players (1977) DVD

In Satyajit Ray's satirical look at life in Imperial era India two wealthy men indulge in a game of chess to the exclusion of everything else...

Set in the kingdom of Oudh during the last days of the Moghul Empire, `The Chess Players' marked the first time that the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray worked outside of his native Bengal. The story follows two Indian noblemen (Saeed Jaffrey and Sanjeev Kumar) whose obsession with the game of chess renders them oblivious to the treacherous and historic events happening around them. In one of his finest performances, Richard Attenborough stars as General Outram, the British officer who covertly manoeuvres on behalf of the East India Company to seize control and depose its King.
One of Ray's most ambitious and expensive productions, `The Chess Players' is a masterful and visually stunning historical drama.