Bandit Queen (1994)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Shekhar Kapur

Writers:

Ranjit Kapoor (dialogue)
Mala Sen (book)
(more)

Release Date:

30 June 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

She was the most feared outlaw in India. If the story wasn't true you wouldn't believe it...

Plot:

The movie tells the story of the bandit queen Phoolan Devi who was sent to prison in 1983 and got free in 1994...

Plot Keywords:

Bandit | Sexism | Female Gangleader | Violence | South Asian

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Seema Biswas	...	Phoolan Devi
Aditya Srivastava	...	Puttilal
Agesh Markam	...	Mad Woman
Ajai Rohilla	...	Behmai Man
Anirudh Agarwal	...	Babu Gujjar
Anil Sahu	...	Vikram Gang Member
Anupam Shyam	...	Ganshyam
Aseem Bajaj	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang
Ashok Bulani	...	D.S.P
Ashok Sharma	...	Ashokchand Servant
Avinash Nemade	...	Doctor
Basant Rawat	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang
Chotelal Siraswal	...	Vikram Gang Member
Deepak Chibber	...	S.P. Bhind
Deepak Soni	...	Miandad
Dhawal Gwaliori	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang
Dilip Raghuvanshi	...	Commander Yadav
Gajraj Rao	...	Ashokchand
G.B. Dixit	...	Ala Singer
Girish Solanki	...	Tarika's Partner
Govind Namdeo	...	SriRam
Guddi	...	Munni
Gyan Shivpuri	...	Phool Singh
Harish	...	Tarika
Hemant Mishra	...	Policeman
Hemant Pandey	...	Ashokchand's Friend
Jeetendra Shastri	...	Bharat
Kamia Bhatt	...	Rukhmani, age 11
K.D. Segan	...	A.D.C
Khunni Lal Maina	...	Pundit
Lakshmi	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang (as Lakshmi Narayan)
Mahesh Chandra	...	Chief Minister
Malabai Sonwani	...	Mother-in-law
Mandakini Goswami	...	Kailash's Wife
Manoj Bajpai	...	Man Singh
Nazim Hussain	...	Vikram Gang Member
Nazim Patel	...	Vikram Gang Member
Nirmal Pandey	...	Vikram Mallah
Pallavi Bharti	...	Little Girl
Paritosh Sand	...	Devendra Singh
Pawan Gupta	...	Vikram Gang Member
Pradeep Gupta	...	Vikram Gang Member
Puran Bhatt	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Madho
Rajesh Vivek	...	Mustaquim
Raj Kumar Kamie	...	Thakur Gang
Rakesh Raekwar	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang
Ram Charan Nirmalker	...	Devideen
Ranjit Chowdhry	...	Shiv Narain (as Ranjit Chaudhry)
Ravi Sangde	...	Messenger
Sanjeev Kumar	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang
Saurabh Shukla	...	Kailash
Savitri Raekwar	...	Moola
Sitaram Panchal	...	Lalaram
Sunil Gaekwad	...	Rattan Chand
Sunita Bhatt	...	Little Phoolan
Surendra Kora	...	Behmai Man
Uma Yaish	...	Rukhmani
Vibanshu Vaibhav	...	Vikram Gang Member
Vijay Shukla	...	Ashokchand's Friend
Vinod Tiwari	...	Vikram Gang Member
Yogesh Gupta	...	Poolan / Man Singh Gang

Directed by
Shekhar Kapur

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ranjit Kapoor		dialogue
Mala Sen		book "India's Bandit Queen"
Mala Sen		screenplay

Produced by
Bobby Bedi	....	producer
Varsha Bedi	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Roger White

Cinematography by
Ashok Mehta

Film Editing by
Renu Saluja

Casting by
Tigmanshu Dhulia

Production Design by
Eve Mavrakis

Art Direction by
Ashok Bhagat

Costume Design by
Dolly Ahluwalia

Makeup Department
Edwin Williams	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Stephen Barker	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mike Higgins	....	first assistant director
Alok Kapur	....	third assistant director
Rajiv Maikhuri	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Richard King	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Taylor	....	production sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Aseem Bajaj	....	assistant camera
Vinod Narayanan	....	focus puller
Giles Nuttgens	....	additional photographer

Music Department
M. Arshad	....	musical director

Other crew
Mike Higgins	....	associate director
Pauline Hume	....	title designer
Kannan Iyer	....	assistant to director

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
• Kaleidoscope Productions

Distributors

• Alta Films (Spain)
• Arrow (1995) (USA) (subtitled)
• Homescreen (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Koch Vision (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Movietech  camera equipment provided by
• Sylvia Wheeler Film Services  negative cutting

Also Known As:

Phoolan Devi (India: Hindi title)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

India | UK

Language:

Hindi | Assamese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:R | India:A | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | India:(Banned) (original rating) | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | Iceland:16

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

This was banned by the Indian authorities due to its graphic scenes of sex and violence. It also incurred the wrath of its own subject, Phoolan Devi, who objected to the fact that she hadn't been invited to see the film. Devi claimed it was riddled with inaccuracies.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hera Pheri (2000)

Tough viewing

Phoolan Devi (played by Seema Biswas) is sold into marriage at 11 and is repeatedly abused from then onwards because she is a woman. She is partially liberated by Vikram Mallah (Nirmal Pandey), one of the bandits she is taken in by and eventually rises to lead the group, extracting vicious revenge on upper-cast men in repayment for what they had done to her.

The film is a fascinating account of the life of Phoolan Devi who was assassinated in September 2001. The film follows from rise (if you can call it that) from abused child to Bandit Queen. Scenes of abuse are tactfully portrayed with the focus on Phoolan's face rather than the act itself. This focus allows the viewer to see the pain that is inflicted by the abuse. This is still very hard to sit and watch be it the abuse by her husband at 11 or the gang rape of adulthood. It's sad that worldwide women are treated as second-class citizens, often subject to this type of terrible abuse as a matter of daily life - even sadder that many religions are interpreted to allow it.

Where the film is weak is the depiction of the two sets of violence - violence against Phoolan is shown as horrible and unforgivable as it should be, however her acts of retaliation are filmed with a more artistic camera and you get the feeling that we are meant to take it that these acts of violence are less horrible because they are revenge attacks. Many of those killed by Phoolan's gang had not done anything to her and were "innocent". The film should have a more even tone across all these actions.

The performances are roundly excellent. All characters no matter how repugnant or noble are played as totally believable - for many you see both sides of their characters. Seema Biswas is excellent as Phoolan Devi, she convinces throughout the film. The subject matter must have been very difficult to act through but she is without a flaw in the lead - the only problem being the slightly sympathetic edge towards her acts of revenge that the film gives.

The film is horrible viewing and yet inspiring that one woman could survive through such events in such a society. Phoolan lived with things that the vast majority of us will ever imagine, she rose up against amazing odds to marry above her caste and be elected to the Indian Parliament. Worth watching to help you be aware of the rest of the world and to ensure that you keep yourself kind towards others in all situations.

Long live Phoolan Devi. May she find more peace in death than she did in life.