Clothes maketh the story

In Ray’s centenary year, a new exhibition showcasing the original costumes of Shatranj Ke Khilari celebrates the master’s eye for detail

In her introduction to “A King’s Gambit”, a one-of-a-kind exhibition showcasing the original costumes of Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khilari, curator Indrani Majumdar fondly describes the opening sequence of the film where a hand reaches across the chessboard and makes a move. Another hand, this time from the opposite end, appears a second later to counter it. “The woven silk sleeves and ornate rings of the players are the only indication that the scene is set in a bygone era,” says Majumdar.

As the camera zooms out to bring the two players — Nawabs Mir Roshan Ali and Mirza Sajjad Ali — into focus, what strikes you first is the grandeur of it all — the rich backdrop, lavish decor, stylish artefacts, and the magnificent costumes worn by the indolent royals.

After Mughal-e-Azam, it was perhaps the only period film where costumes and architecture played a central role and like K. Asif, Ray indulged in painstaking research. However, unlike Asif’s magnum opus, Ray’s film was a historical based on a Premchand story that captured the last days of Wajid Ali Shah on the throne of Awadh. Apart from the beleaguered poet-king, Lt.-General Sir James Outram, Captain Weston and Doctor Fayrer also find faithful representation in the clothes that they don.