I have often wondered about the very curdled natures of our opinions so much so that the perch of imagination simply becomes a bystanding abstraction and real thoughts of genuine merit slip between the fingers. That is a human tendency, to beat arou...
Below is my original movie appraisal of the classic Satyajit Ray work THE CHESS PLAYERS that was chosen to be published by CAFE DISSENSUS EVERYDAY BLOG on 13th July, 2019 .
So the whole content, beginning with inverted commas and ending with them, covers my original work. You can easily search for it on Google or on WordPress under the originally published title ' Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari' : an expertly crafted cinematic gem '
As is the norm with many of my writings, it is set within my hometown Lucknow and so I have furnished the article with that inside perspective as well.
Apart from that, it is a welcome addition to the 'TREASURE TROVE OF INDIAN CINEMA' series within my blog and concurrently here on this essay collection that has already included many of Ray's works . So read it and share your thoughts.
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Cafe Dissensus Everyday THE BLOG OF CAFE DISSENSUS MAGAZINE
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" A conversation veering towards erstwhile Awadh and its classical epicentre Lucknow can hardly be espoused in ordinariness. It’s a city with an untiring passion for art, nostalgia and poetic grandeur. From the eternal sunshine of its spotless architectural heritage to its Ganga Jamuni confluence, from the ‘ras’ of its musical accomplishments to its global filigree of royal glory, Lucknow thrives in the past and awakens in the present chambers of timeless sensibilities to fly like a dove in the post-industrial sky – a messenger of unhurried lyricism and sophistication far removed from present day cacophony yet taking measured steps towards healthy urban evolution.
It goes without saying that a cinematic treatment meted out to this Eden of myths and princely charm has to be nothing short of epic or out of the blue. As a proud Lucknowite myself, I reserve my praise for Ray’s satiric langour and eye for detail in the Awadh-bound trajectory in Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players). The complexity in a game of chess, by turns, tests one’s mental capacity or, should I say, awareness of life’s unheeding twists of fate. In his two lead performers Sanjeev Kumar and Sayeed Jaffery, the auteur, making his only full-length Hindustani language feature apart from his Bengali repertoire, finds his titular chess players and the funny bone to occasion the passage of time, the end of an era for the Nawabi realm. The film’s timeline is pre-1857 Awadh and both stalwarts play best friends for whom indulging in a game of chess is much more than a pastime. It’s an obsession, source of passion, even a lifestyle. They are among an ilk of landed gentry cut off from the social churnings within British India. The universality to this concern is common.
