You know you are always welcome.
Give those to the mistress with my compliments.
You have deceived me.
All of you.
I loved you more than my own kin.
I put my trust in you.
I gave you all powers.
What have you done, except line your own pockets?
Colonel Sleeman had warned me against you.
I paid no heed to him.
Now I know he was right.
And he was right about you, too, Prime Minister.
About me?
Yes, about you.
What sin have I committed, sire?
You dare to ask me that?
Why did you not throw this paper in the Resident's face?
Should you not have asked what right the Company had to break the treaty?
The Company may assume administration,
but it has no right to depose the king.
It is all my fault.
I should never have sat on the throne.
But I was young and I loved the crown.
I loved the throne, the robe and the jewels.
I loved the pomp and the glitter.
In the beginning,
I behaved like a true king.
For a time, at least.
- Did I not, Prime Minister? - You did, Your Majesty.
- Remember my army, Dewan Sahib? - How can I forget, Your Majesty?
The daily parades...
and the names I gave my cavalry regiments.
And my army of women,
pretty girls in pretty uniforms on pretty horses.
What a picture they made when they trotted by.
But Mr. Resident would have none of it.
Mr. Richmond it was.
He said, "Why bother with an army?
Our British forces are guarding your borders.
You yourself are paying for them. So why bother?"
"Very well, Mr. Richmond.
Your word is law. I shall not bother."
But what will I do?
I am asking you.
If a king stops bothering about his realm, what is left for him to do?
I found the answer.
Mr. Richmond never told me.
No one told me.
I found it myself.
Do you remember that song of mine?
Which song, Your Majesty?
Restless and troubled
I passed the sleepless night
My love has departed To what land I know not
I remember, sire.
Do you know when I composed it and where?
No, sire.
Here.
On this throne, in full court.
I shall never forget the moment.
A man stood while his petition was read out.
Suddenly, the clerk's voice seemed to fade away.
It no longer reached my ears.
But in its place...
Who could have seen this
My eyes are thirsting
For the sight
Of my love
Yet they are veiled
Since your horses
Departed through my gates
I've lost the sense of everything
Restless and troubled
I passed the sleepless night
My love has departed To what land I know not
Well done.
That was the answer I found.
No, Prime Minister, I was never meant to rule.
If my people had come to me and said,
"Your Majesty, leave the throne. We do not want you.
You are making us suffer."
I would have cast away my crown then and there.
But they did not say so. Do you know why?
Because I have never hidden my true self from them.
I was not afraid to show how I was.
And they loved me, in spite of that.
Even after ten years, I can see love in their eyes.
They love my songs. They sing them.
Go and ask the Resident:
How many kings of England have written songs?
Ask if Queen Victoria has composed songs which her people sing.
The Company is sending troops.
Why?
Because the Company fears my people may rise against it.
It knows that my people are strong.
Some of the Company's best soldiers are from Oudh.
Is it not strange, Prime Minister,
that my "poor, oppressed people"
should make the best soldiers in the Company's army?
Half of Oudh has already gone to you, Company.
Now you want the other half and the throne, too.
You are breaking one more treaty in asking for it.
If my people are misruled, why have they not fled to a realm you own?
Why do they not cross the frontier to ask you to save them from my misrule?
Prime Minister, please go and tell the Honorable Resident...
my throne is not theirs for the asking.
If they want it...
they will have to fight for it.
Rafique.
This is an even better place than mine.
So quiet. Just right for chess.
The pleasure is all mine.
Bring the hookahs. And tell the mistress there are two for dinner.
You must show me the calligraphy your wife likes so much.
All in good time.
The master is home, madam.
Mr. Mirza is with him. He will dine with the master.
Very well.
Have you made up with your wife? She seemed rather agitated yesterday.
What a problem.
Soldier, advance.
My dear Mr. Meer,
wives are always problems.
Don't you agree?
Some wives are problems. No problems here, though.
Disaster! He's at home.
- He's playing in the drawing room. - Playing?
- Chess. - Chess?
He's with his friend. He's never played here before.
I'm so worried.
So uncle's playing chess.
Suppose something should happen?
Don't worry. A man with his eyes on the chessboard is lost to the world.
That's just what he always says.
I don't wish to boast...
but I'm the luckiest man in the world.
Look everywhere, you won't find as sweet and reasonable a wife as mine.
I haven't a single complaint to make.
She even takes an interest in chess.
- No. - Yes.
One day I explained the game to her, and she appreciated its fascination.
Now she even insists on my leaving early
so as not to keep you waiting.
Extraordinary.
And when I return home in the small hours...
she rubs balm on my brow and I am soon asleep.
That is luck indeed.
Where are you going?
- I'll fetch that calligraphy. - My respects to your wife.
Don't play about with those pieces while I'm away.
Don't come out.
It's not safe yet.
What's going on?
He's hiding.
That I can see. But why?
They're after him.
Who? What have you done, Aqil? Was there a fight?
My goodness.
Say something.
What happened?
Nothing.
Who's -
Who's after him?
The army. The army is after me.
But what army?
Ours. The king's army.
Really?
War's about to break out. The troops have already reached Kanpur.
The army needs men and they're rounding up people to fight.
Just grabbing them off the street.
You know, too?
Aqil just told me.
Officers came to our house.
He sneaked out of the back door.
I hope they didn't see you sneak out.
I'm not sure, Uncle. They were on horseback.
I heard them, too.
When?
Just before you came. Clip-clop!
But...
why hide under the bed?
You can't be seen from the street.
He lost his head. He's like a child.
Feel how his heart is racing.
You'd better give him some hot milk.
Don't worry, my dear fellow. You're perfectly safe here.
They're calling at houses, rounding up people to fight for the king.
You know you can be arrested for spreading such rumors.
Rumors? Aqil saw it with his own eyes.
He's my nephew. He's just told me what's going on.
He was hiding under the bed.
Poor boy, he's quite shaken. His heart is racing.
The king's soldiers haven't been paid for months.
They must have refused to fight.
We must do something about it.
You mean you want to fight?
Me? What a notion!
Let's get back to our game.
How can I play when I know we're not safe here?
Should we go back to my house?
Out of the question.
What then?
Well, I -
It's them!
What -
What are you doing?
For God's sake, don't go out on the balcony!
They'll see him.
They don't seem to be looking for anybody.
I tell you, there's nothing to worry about.
Why are you looking at me like that?
What are you laughing at?
I'm laughing at my friend,
descendant of Burhan-ul-Mulk's brave cavalry officer.
Pull yourself together and listen to me.
All right.
We'll run away from here.
Run away?
And leave that behind?
No, we take it.
We'll play, but not here and not in your house, either.
Where, then?
This is what we'll do.
In a village across the river, there's a ruined old mosque.
A quiet place, with not a soul around.
The quietest, safest place imaginable.
You've seen the place?
With my own eyes.
We'll leave at the crack of dawn and get back when it's dark.
Nobody will recognize us.
We'll take a mat and a couple of hookahs.
What about food?
We can buy our lunch from a shop, kebabs and chapattis.
What about weapons?
We must carry weapons.
A man who goes out unarmed in these troubled times never returns home.
All right, we'll carry pistols.
Mr. Resident, how can I ask someone to sign a treaty
which I myself do not understand?
Wajid Ali Shah was enthroned with the full consent of the Company.
If he proved to be a bad ruler,
why did the Company not do something about it?
Why did it not guide him, to correct the administration?
Why this sudden, drastic step after ten years?
Has my son ever defied the Company, or made trouble for it?
Mr. Resident.
Have you forgotten how you were received by our people
when you first came here a year ago?
Have you ever known such warmth and hospitality as here?
Tell the Governor-General that we do not want money.
We want justice.
If the queen's servant cannot give us justice,
we shall go to the queen herself and ask for it.
Mr. Resident had an audience of the Queen Mother today.
The Queen Mother has told him that she herself will go to England...
to seek justice from Queen Victoria.
Our barons have also sent word.
They await Your Majesty's order
to raise an army of 100,000 men and 1,000 pieces of artillery
to oppose the Company's forces.
When I leave my beloved Lucknow
I do not know
I do not know how I shall bear the pain of parting
When I leave my beloved Lucknow
East India Company,
you can take away my crown...
but you cannot take away my dignity.
The Company has offered me a handsome allowance.
As a citizen of Lucknow, if not as its king,
I must show my gratitude.
Inform the Honorable Resident...
that I shall be pleased to receive him tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning.
But before he comes,
dismount all guns
and disarm all the soldiers...
and instruct my people
to offer no resistance
when Lucknow is entered...
by the Company's troops.
Where is your mosque?
I can see it clearly in my mind's eye.
Even the tamarind tree right behind it.
Perhaps the British troops...
have razed it to the ground.
God forbid!
Shall we ask that boy?
Listen, boy. Come here.
There used to be an old mosque here, a ruined mosque.
There's a mosque about two miles away.
- An old mosque? - No, built only the other day.
Perhaps you saw the mosque in a dream.
Say something.
I'm terribly sorry, Mirza.
That mosque was in Kanpur.
I saw it as a child. One can't always be right, you know.
As in the couplet:
I have spent this time in unawareness, and now...
To hell with your couplet!
Where do we play now, in that field of mustard?
You can come to my house, sir.
- Who else is there? - Nobody. They've all run away.
- Run away? - To Sitapur.
The British are coming, sir. What if they shoot people down?
Yet you've stayed?
I want to see them come.
Aren't you afraid?
I like their red coats.
They're coming today, sir, down that road over there.
What if war should break out? How do we get back?
- Do you want to go back now? - Not at all.
- Then you'll stay and play? - Certainly.
Very well. Let's go to your house.
- What's your name? - Kalloo, sir.
We don't need that.
We have a mat.
- You're playing, sir? - Yes. Chess.
- Can you prepare a hookah? - Yes, sir.
Go on, then. Everything's here.
- You'll give me baksheesh? - Of course.
Can you get us something to eat?
- Now, sir? - No, when we're hungry.
I'll run to town and get anything you want.
- Excellent. - Take this.
Are you going to fight the British?
Why not? We're not afraid of them.
Are we?
I can bare my head for you,
but I cannot sign that treaty.
You're sure?
You can take it back.
It's all right.
As you wish.
I'm afraid you'll lose this time.
No wonder, these mosquitoes are draining my blood.
They don't seem to bite me.
They're choosy. They only go for pure blood.
Check.
Where the hell is that boy?
You sent him to fetch the food.
Can you manage that yourself?
God knows where he's put the tobacco.
It's well past noon and still no sign of food.
How helpless we are without servants.
As the verse goes,
a very interesting verse,
"Passion alone will not take you anywhere,
neither to the sea, the woods, the land or the air."
You're in high spirits today.
I feel wonderful.
Indeed.
The general is about to win the battle. My strategy has paid off.
What an ideal spot this is.
No officers to harass us,
and the British can come and go for all we care.
You must have slept well, thanks to the balm your wife rubs on your brow.
That's true of every night.
I wonder where Aqil places himself while your wife does her massage?
Under the bed, I suppose.
What do you imply?
Your move.
It's a dirty trick to put me off my game, just because you're losing.
Who's losing? I've moved, now it's your turn.
You've beaten me often and I've never lost my temper.
Your move.
One doesn't expect this from a gentleman.
Does a gentleman let his wife carry on with any man that comes her way?
- You've no right to talk like that. - Why not?
You forget that your ancestors were nothing but grass-cutters.
And what about your ancestors? Slaving away in the kitchens of-
But, Meer, you -
Have you lost your senses?
You must be insane.
Throw away that stupid gun.
When I'm really angry, I can kill.
Pull the trigger, then.
But what I've told you is the truth.
A lie.
I swear it's true.
I don't believe you.
You'll find out for yourself one day. Then you'll regret it.
You're saying this to upset me, so I lose the game.
That's a vile thing to say, Meer.
Do you think I could ever be so mean?
It's you who cheated in the past, but I never said a word.
The British are coming!
I've brought the food, sir.
The food, sir.
There was such a crowd in the market.
Everybody shouting and running one way and another.
That's why it took me so long, sir.
Put it on the mat.
- Here's the change, sir. - Keep it.
Our king has given up, sir.
The British have become our rulers.
There was no fighting, sir. No guns went off.
You're right, Kalloo.
No fighting, no bloodshed.
King Wajid has made sure of that.
Three days from today,
on 5th February, 1856,
the kingdom of Oudh will be in British hands.
Wajid Ali Shah will leave his beloved city...
for all time.
And Lord Dalhousie will have eaten his cherry.
The food is getting cold.
I see you've been standing under a tree.
Even the crows despise me.
The British take over Oudh,
while we hide in a village and fight over petty things.
We couldn't have done much even if we'd stayed in town.
If we can't cope with our wives,
how can we cope with the British army?
Yes, you're right. So why worry?
I'm not worrying about that.
What are you worrying about?
About who to play chess with.
Here is one person, Meer.
And there is some food. We can eat and play at the same time.
When it's dark, we can go home.
We need darkness to hide our faces.
Come, let's have a fast game.
A fast game?
Yes, a fast game.
Fast, like a railway train.
Move over, Minister.
Make way for Queen Victoria!