It is the year 1856. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is the king of Awadh, one of the last independent kingdoms of India. The British colonialists, intent on controlling this rich land, have sent general Outram on a secret mission to clear the way for an annexation. Pressure is mounting amidst intrigue and political manoeuvres, but the Nawab whiles away his time in pursuit of pleasure and religious practice. The court is of no help either—Court nobles Mir and Mirza, ignoring the situation of their country and all their duties towards their families, spend their days playing endless games of chess. The film is based on Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name.
| Directing | Satyajit Ray | Director |
| Writing | Satyajit Ray | Screenplay |
| Production | Suresh Jindal | Producer |
| Camera | Purnendu Bose | Assistant Camera |
| Camera | Anil Ghosh | Assistant Camera |
| Camera | Dilip Bannerji | Assistant Camera |
| Art | Bansi Chandragupta | Art Direction |
| Art | Ashoke Bose | Assistant Art Director |
| Costume & Make-Up | Shama Zaidi | Costume Design |
| Costume & Make-Up | Rabab Jaffri | Assistant Costume Designer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Sitara Jaffri | Assistant Costume Designer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Saba Zaidi | Assistant Costume Designer |
| Sound | Narinder Singh | Sound |
| Sound | Arun Chakravarty | Sound Assistant |
| Sound | Dulal Das | Sound Assistant |
| Editing | Dulal Dutta | Editor |
| Editing | Kashinath Bose | Assistant Editor |
| Costume & Make-Up | Ananta Das | Makeup Artist |
| Costume & Make-Up | Pradip Bag | Assistant Makeup Artist |
| Costume & Make-Up | Haru Das | Wardrobe Master |
| Art | Kabi Dasgupta | Background Designer |
| Directing | Ramesh Sen | Assistant Director |
| Directing | Santi Chatterjee | Assistant Director |
| Directing | Sandip Ray | Assistant Director |
| Directing | Javed Siddiqui | Assistant Director |
| Production | Anil Choudhury | Production Executive |
| Production | Bhanu Ghosh | Production Manager |
| Production | J.N. Srivastava | Location Manager |
| Production | Bolai Addy | Production Assistant |
| Production | Trailokya Das | Production Assistant |
| Visual Effects | Ram Mohan | Animation |
| Art | Zehra Tyabji | Graphic Designer |
| Art | Joseph St. Anne | Graphic Designer |
| Production | Uma Da Cunha | Publicist |
| Production | N.B. Sukhwani | Administration |
| Production | Ana Maria De Souza | Administration |
| Crew | Jagdish Shetty | Administrative Assistant |
| Camera | Nemai Ghosh | Still Photographer |
| Camera | Sandip Ray | Still Photographer |
| Camera | Sumantra Ghoshal | Still Photographer |
| Camera | Pablo Bartholomew | Still Photographer |
| Sound | Reba Muhuri | Songs |
| Sound | Birju Maharaj | Songs |
| Crew | Birju Maharaj | Choreographer |
| Sound | Mangesh Desai | Sound Re-Recording Mixer |
| Sound | Samir Majumdar | Sound Recordist |
| Writing | Satyajit Ray | Dialogue |
| Writing | Shama Zaidi | Dialogue |
| Writing | Javed Siddiqui | Dialogue |
| Camera | Soumendu Roy | Director of Photography |
| Sound | Satyajit Ray | Original Music Composer |
| Writing | Munshi Premchand | Short Story |
| Writing | Munshi Premchand | Writer |
