The Chess Players/The Philosopher's Stone

THE CHESS PLAYERS: Based on a short story by Hindustani writer Munshi Premchand, this richly layered historical drama is set in 1856, as the British East India Company was attempting to unseat a Muslim king and annex the region of Oudh. The title characters (a pair of Indian aristocrats beautifully played by Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey) are so obsessed with their game that monumental changes in society and even their families pass almost unnoticed.

THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE: Tulsi Chakrabarti stars as a humble bank clerk who briefly tastes the good life after he discovers a small stone that turns iron into gold on contact. A Palme d’Or nominee at the Cannes Film Festival. In Bengali with English subtitles.