How Gulzar missed Satyajit Ray’s ‘Shatranj Ke Khilari’

In 1977 Satyajit Ray made his first Hindi film ‘

Shatranj Ke

Khilari’ considered as his most ambitious project having an ensemble cast including Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Saeed Jaffrey, Shabana Azmi, Farida Jalal,

Farooq Sheikh

and others. After ‘Shatranj Ke Khilari’, ‘Sadgati’ in 1981 was Ray’s second only Hindi film. But how many of you know poet and acclaimed filmmaker Gulzar closely missed an opportunity to work with the auteur?

During a recent media interaction, the ‘Aandhi’ director revealed this almost forgotten fact. “In 1975 I heard Ray was making Shatranj Ke Khilari, so I met him and urged Ray whether I can write the script for the film as it’s a unique subject. However, Ray politely turned me down in his rich baritone. I was sad to hear that he had already committed the script to someone else,” recalled Gulzar.

Gulzar, touted to be one of the finest filmmakers in India also added this was the second lost opportunity to work with Satyajit Ray. I had earlier started working on the script for the Hindi version of Goopy Byne Bagha Byne (1969). But, Ray shelved the project reportedly after fallout with the producer.