In the year 1856, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is the King of Awadh, one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British intend to control this rich land and send General Outram to clear way for an annexation. Pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political maneuvers, but the Nawab whiles away his time in pursuit of pleasure and religious practice. The court is of no help either — noblemen Mir and Mirza ignore all duties and spend their days playing endless games of chess. Based on Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2010.
Cast
Sanjeev Kumar
Mirza Sajjad Ali
Saeed Jaffrey
Mir Roshan Ali
Amjad Khan
Wajid Ali Shah
Shabana Azmi
Khurshid
Farida Jalal
Nafisa
Veena
Queen Mother
David Abraham Cheulkar
Munshi
Victor Banerjee
Prime Minister
Farooq Shaikh
Aqueel
Tom Alter
Capt. Weston
Leela Mishra
Hirya
Barry John
Unknown
Richard Attenborough
General Outram
Samarth Narain
Kallu
Bhudo Advani
Abbajani
Kamu Mukherjee
Unknown
Uttamram Nagar
Unknown
Khairatilal Lahori
Unknown
Pradip Shankar
Unknown
Ashfaq Mirza
Unknown
Amrit Bhushan Gujral
Unknown
Ramesh Khosla
Unknown
Shaik Farid
Unknown
Madan Sudan
Unknown
Saswati Sen
Dancer (uncredited)
Amitabh Bachchan
Narrator (voice)
Crew
Satyajit Ray
Director, Screenplay, Original Music Composer, Dialogue
Munshi Premchand
Writer, Short Story
Dulal Dutta
Editor
Kashinath Bose
Assistant Editor
Soumendu Roy
Director of Photography
Sandip Ray
Assistant Director, Still Photographer
Javed Siddiqui
Assistant Director, Dialogue
Santi Chatterjee
Assistant Director
Ramesh Sen
Assistant Director
Suresh Jindal
Producer
Bolai Addy
Production Assistant
Trailokya Das
Production Assistant
Dilip Bannerji
Assistant Camera
Anil Ghosh
Assistant Camera
Purnendu Bose
Assistant Camera
Sitara Jaffri
Assistant Costume Designer
Saba Zaidi
Assistant Costume Designer
Rabab Jaffri
Assistant Costume Designer
Haru Das
Wardrobe Master
Shama Zaidi
Costume Design, Dialogue
Ram Mohan
Animation
Pradip Bag
Assistant Makeup Artist
Ananta Das
Makeup Artist
Ashoke Bose
Assistant Art Director
Mangesh Desai
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Dulal Das
Sound Assistant
Arun Chakravarty
Sound Assistant
Samir Majumdar
Sound Recordist
Narinder Singh
Sound
Birju Maharaj
Songs, Choreographer
Reba Muhuri
Songs
Sumantra Ghoshal
Still Photographer
Pablo Bartholomew
Still Photographer
Nemai Ghosh
Still Photographer
J.N. Srivastava
Location Manager
Bhanu Ghosh
Production Manager
Anil Choudhury
Production Executive
Kabi Dasgupta
Background Designer
Uma Da Cunha
Publicist
Bansi Chandragupta
Art Direction
Ana Maria De Souza
Administration
N.B. Sukhwani
Administration
Jagdish Shetty
Administrative Assistant
Zehra Tyabji
Graphic Designer
Joseph St. Anne
Graphic Designer
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