A horrific account of the indomitable Phoolan Devi
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| Bandit Queen (1994) - By Shekhar Kapur |
IMDb Ratings: 7.3
Genre: Biography | Drama
Cast: Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey, Manoj Bajpai
Country: India | UK
Country: India | UK
Language: Hind | Assamese
Runtime: 119 min
Color: Color
Summary: The movie tells the story of the bandit queen Phoolan Devi who was sent to prison in 1983 and got free in 1994.
The film is a
horrific account of lower-caste rebel and the indomitable Phoolan Devi,
who goes all out to defy the norms of a regressive society. The seed of
rebellion is sown when she is married to a man over 20 years older. She
is all 11. Life becomes a series of debacles then on, for Phoolan. She
is treated as an outcast, gets thrown out of her village, joins a gang
of local goons in a nearby village, and eventually rises to power as the
only woman bandit. The film recounts her life from the tender age of 11
till she surrenders as a bandit, 15 years after. The journey is
painful, soul-stirring. It haunts you long after you've seen the film,
leaving you with a sense of helplessness and remorse.
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| A Still from Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen |
Seema Biswas makes a
remarkable debut in Bollywood with this goose-bump inducing
performance. She is intense, inimitable! Phoolan's eyes reflect anger,
her ways vengeance. She retaliates to the atrocities committed on her
but each time she's affronted and exploited. In Seema's 25-year career
spanning 40 films, she is even today remembered as the Bandit Queen.
That's the power of a performer!
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| Seema Biswas as Phoolan Devi in Bandit Queen |
Vikram Mallah
(late, Nirmal Pandey, who started his career with B-grade films),
playing gangster and Phoolan's lover, leaves a mark. I'm not sure if he
received recognition for any role/film after this one. Bollywood's
celebrated villain Govind Namdeo, is equally hateable as Thakur Shri
Ram. This was one of the first films, in fact, that shot him to
limelight in a negative avtar. Puttilal (Aditya Shrivastava), too is
effective as Phoolan's husband. Saurabh Shukla is likeable for whatever
little screen time he gets.
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| Nirmal Pandey as Vikram Mallah in Bandit Queen |
Shekhar Kapur's
storytelling is gripping enough to keep you going for two hours. I was
left asking for more towards the end, though. It was an underwhelming
end to a roaring start. Or was it the over-emphasis on the
rape-and-retribution theme? Possibly. Overall though, it was a brave attempt for a 3-film old director, executed commendably well.
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| A Still from Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen |
The Controversy:
Now, the film is loosely adapted from the "dictated prison diaries," taken down by London writer Mala Sen and compiled into her book, India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi. The film received critical acclaim at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, and at the 1995 New Directors New Films Festival in New York. But protagonist and real-life Phoolan Devi protested the release of the film, saying it "misrepresents" facts. The rape scenes and the Behmai village scene where she's forced to walk naked up to the well, include some of those. [Phoolan Devi, later released her version of the story in her autobiography titled The Bandit Queen of India: An Indian Woman's Amazing Journey From Peasant to International Legend, with the help of international authors Marie-Therese Cuny and Paul Rambali].
Now, the film is loosely adapted from the "dictated prison diaries," taken down by London writer Mala Sen and compiled into her book, India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi. The film received critical acclaim at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, and at the 1995 New Directors New Films Festival in New York. But protagonist and real-life Phoolan Devi protested the release of the film, saying it "misrepresents" facts. The rape scenes and the Behmai village scene where she's forced to walk naked up to the well, include some of those. [Phoolan Devi, later released her version of the story in her autobiography titled The Bandit Queen of India: An Indian Woman's Amazing Journey From Peasant to International Legend, with the help of international authors Marie-Therese Cuny and Paul Rambali].
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| Seema Biswas in Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen |
Devi issued a
lawsuit to prevent its release, although she, apparently, withdrew her
objections after Channel 4 (the financiers of the film) paid her
£40,000. Her protest was supported by a lot of activists, led by
Arundhati Roy. Here's Roy's popular critique of the film The Great Indian Rape Trick.
She slammed the film-makers, questioning the right to "re-stage the
rape of a living woman without her permission." Writer Mala Sen later came out with her defense, as published in The Independent.
Have you seen the film? Your thoughts? Let's talk in the comments below.
About Author -
This guest review is written by Mansi Dutta. Mansi writes at Balcony Row. While her site features reviews of many popular Hollywood films, it serves to be a real reservoir of hundreds of Bollywood titles.
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your feedback is highly appreciated!
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In a world that is rife with dowry deaths and female this and thats, how on earth did Phoolan Devi get to be a dacoit queen ?? Horrified awe ...
ReplyDeletePlease accept my deepest apologies for replying so late. The answer to your question, I am afraid, is far from being simple. If you ask me, it's not about awe but is about the odds of survival. I, for one, have always felt that there always are survivors (and it's not that the toughest or the smartest survive... more than anything, one needs luck)... and Phoolan Devi was one such survivor who life's tale is indeed an exemplary one. It's a real pity we lost her the way we did.
ReplyDeleteWe lost a great soul.
ReplyDelete