This book explores Satyajit Ray's films, and The Chess Players in particular, in the context of discourses of labor in colonial and postcolonial conditions. Starting from Daniel Defoe and moving through history, short story and film to the present, Dube widens her analysis with comparisons in which Indian films are situated alongside Hollywood and other films, and interwea This book explores Satyajit Ray's films, and The Chess Players in particular, in the context of discourses of labor in colonial and postcolonial conditions. Starting from Daniel Defoe and moving through history, short story and film to the present, Dube widens her analysis with comparisons in which Indian films are situated alongside Hollywood and other films, and interweaves historical and cultural debates within film theory.