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{{Short description|1994 film by Shekhar Kapur}}
{{About|the 1994 film|the British indie rock band|Bandit Queen (band)|other uses|The Bandit Queen (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Bandit Queen
| image = Bandit Queen 1994 film poster.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| writer = [[Shekhar Kapur]]
| based_on = {{based on|''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi''|[[Mala Sen]]}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
* [[Seema Biswas]]
* [[Nirmal Pandey]]}}
| director = [[Shekhar Kapur]]
| producer = [[Shekhar Kapur]]
| cinematography = [[Ashok Mehta]]
| editing = [[Renu Saluja]]
| distributor = Koch Vision, USA 2004 (DVD)
| released = {{film date|1994|1|26 |df=yes}}
| runtime = 119 minutes
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Hindi]]
| music = [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]]
| studio = [[Kaleidoscope Entertainment]]<br />[[Film4 Productions|Channel Four Films]]
| budget = {{INR|32.5 million}}<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Bandit Queen - Movie |url=https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=2827 |website=[[Box Office India]] |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref>
| gross = {{Estimation}} {{INR|221 million}} ([[#Box office|see{{nbsp}}below]])
}}
'''''Bandit Queen''''' is a [[Bollywood films of 1994|1994]] Indian [[biographical film]] based on the life of [[Phoolan Devi]] as covered in the book ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi'' by the Indian author [[Mala Sen]].<ref name="guardiansenobituary">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/13/mala-sen-obituary|title=Mala Sen obituary|author=Kotak, Ash|newspaper=The Guardian|date=13 June 2011|access-date=10 November 2016 }}</ref> It was written,produced & directed by [[Shekhar Kapur]] and starred [[Seema Biswas]] as the title character. The music was composed by [[Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan|Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan]]. The film won the [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi]], Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie and Best Direction for that year. The film was premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the [[1994 Cannes Film Festival]], and was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/bollywood/news/a383899/anurag-kashyap-the-perception-of-india-cinema-is-changing.html#~oT14wSijkj0Kkw|title=Anurag Kashyap: 'The perception of India cinema is changing'|work=Digital Spy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/theDailyArticle/57637.html|title=Shekhar Kapur, exclusive interview|work=Festival de Cannes}}</ref> The film was selected as the Indian entry for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] at the [[67th Academy Awards]], but was not accepted as a nominee.<ref>Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences</ref>

== Plot ==
The film opens in the summer of 1968 at a small village in Uttar Pradesh.<ref>Let us Know Something About It In Detail. The real life Phoolan Devi was born in 1963 and was married when she was about 11. See [[Phoolan Devi]] for more details</ref> Phoolan is married to a twenty-something fellow called Puttilal ([[Aditya Shrivastava]]). Though child marriages are customary during that time, Phoolan's mother Moola (Savitri Raekwar) objects to the timing of the match. Phoolan's aging father Devideen (Ram Charan Nirmalker) conforming to his culture, regrettably disagrees, and Phoolan is sent off with Puttilal.

Phoolan is exposed to some sexual and exploitative abuses, including the [[caste system]]. (Phoolan's family as well as Puttilal's family belong to the lower ranked [[Mallaah|Mallah]] sub caste; the higher ranked Thakur caste takes the lead in social and political situations.) Puttilal is physically and sexually abusive, and Phoolan eventually runs away and returns home. As Phoolan grows older, she faces incidents of (non-consensual) fondling and groping from the [[Rajput|Thakur]] men (whose parents make up the ''panchayat'' or village government). At the next town meeting, the ''panchayat'' wield their patriarchal authority to banish Phoolan from the village, since she will not consent to the sexual advances of the higher caste males, who treat her like sub-human chattel.

Accordingly, Phoolan lives with her cousin Kailash ([[Saurabh Shukla]]). En route to another village, she encounters a troop of [[Dacoity|''daku'']]s (bandits) of the Babu Gujjar gang, led by Vikram Mallah Mastana ([[Nirmal Pandey]]). Phoolan stays with Kailash for a while, but is eventually compelled to leave. Angry and hopeless, Phoolan goes to the local police to try to have her ban lifted, but she is beaten, molested, and arrested by the police, who rape her while in custody. The Thakurs put up bail and have her released. But, unknown to her, the bail is a bribe (paid, through the police, to Babu Gujjar's gang), and Babu Gujjar arrives to collect his prize.

In May 1979, Phoolan is abducted by Babu Gujjar ([[Anirudh Agarwal]]). Gujjar is a physically imposing man and a ruthless, predatory mercenary. Although Gujjar's lieutenant Vikram is sympathetic towards Phoolan, Gujjar indiscriminately brutalizes and humiliates her, until one day Vikram catches him raping her (yet again) and shoots him in the head. Vikram takes over the gang, and his empathy for Phoolan eventually grows into a mutually respectful mature adult relationship.

All goes well until Thakur Shri Ram ([[Govind Namdeo]]) is released from prison. Thakur Shri Ram is the real gang leader (boss of the erstwhile Gujjar). Shri Ram returns to his gang and while Vikram receives him with respect, Shri Ram bristles at Vikram's egalitarian leadership style and covets Phoolan. Around this time, Phoolan revisits her former husband Puttilal, and with Vikram's help, abducts him and exacts her justice for his rape and abuse, beating him up. She shares her closure with Vikram.

In August 1980, Shri Ram arranges to have Vikram assassinated, and abducts Phoolan, bringing her to the village of Behmai. Phoolan is repeatedly raped and beaten by Shri Ram and by the rest of the gang members, as punishment for her "disrespect" for his previous advances, and for her audacity at being an equal. The stunning and disturbing final humiliation and punishment is that she is stripped, paraded around Behmai, beaten and sent to fetch water from the well (in full view of the village).

A severely traumatised Phoolan returns to her cousin Kailash. She recovers gradually, and seeks out Man Singh ([[Manoj Bajpai]]), an old friend of Vikram Mallah. Man Singh brings her to another large gang, led by Baba Mustakim ([[Rajesh Vivek]]). She relates her history to Baba and asks him for some men and weapons to form a gang. Baba Mustakim agrees, and Man Singh and Phoolan become the leaders for the new gang.

Phoolan leads her new gang with courage, generosity, humility and shrewdness. Her stockpile and her legend grows. She becomes known as Phoolan Devi, the bandit queen. In February 1981, Baba Mustakim informs her of a large wedding in Behmai, with Thakur Shri Ram in attendance. As Phoolan departs, Baba Mustakim warns her to remain low key. Phoolan attacks the wedding party and her gang exacts revenge from the entire Thakur clan of Behmai. They round up the men and beat them up. Many of the men are finally shot. This act of vengeance brings her to the attention of the national law enforcement authorities (in New Delhi). The top police officials now begin a massive manhunt for Phoolan, and Thakur Shri Ram relishes the opportunity to come to their aid.

The manhunt claims many lives in Phoolan's gang. They are ultimately forced to hide out in the rugged ravines of Chambal without any food or water. Phoolan evaluates her options and decides to surrender. Her terms are to have her remaining mates protected and provided for (the women and children in particular). The film ends with Phoolan's surrender in February 1983. The end credits indicate that all the charges against her were withdrawn (including the charges of murder at Behmai), and that she was released in 1994.

==Cast==
*[[Seema Biswas]] as [[Phoolan Devi]]
*[[Nirmal Pandey]] as Vikram Mallah
*[[Aditya Srivastava]] as Puttilal
* [[Gajraj Rao (actor)|Gajraj Rao]] as Ashok Chand Thakur (Sarpanch's Son)
*[[Saurabh Shukla]] as Kailash
*[[Manoj Bajpayee]] as [[Maan Singh]]
*[[Raghuvir Yadav]] as Madho
*[[Rajesh Vivek]] as Baba Mustakim
*[[Anirudh agrawal|Anirudh Agarwal]] as Babu Gujjar
*[[Govind Namdeo]] as Thakur Shri Ram
*[[Shekhar Kapur]] as a lorry driver in a cameo role

==Release==
===Box office===
In India, the film grossed {{INR|206.7 million}}<ref name="auto"/> ({{US$|{{#expr:206700000/35.433 round 0}}|long=no}}).<ref name="currency">{{cite web |title=Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.FCRF?end=1994&locations=IN&start=1995 |website=[[World Bank]] |year=1994 |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref> In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $399,748<ref>{{cite web |title=Bandit Queen (1995) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=banditqueen.htm |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref> ({{INR|{{#expr:399748*35.433 round 0}}|link=no}}).<ref name="currency"/> Combined, the film grossed approximately {{INR|{{#expr:206.7+14.164271 round 0}} million}} ({{US$|{{#expr:5.833545+0.399748 round 2}} million|long=no}}) worldwide.

===Controversy===
Although Phoolan Devi is a heroine in the film, she fiercely disputed its accuracy and fought to get it banned in India. She even threatened to [[self-immolation|immolate]] herself outside a theater if the film were not withdrawn. Eventually, she withdrew her objections after the producer [[Channel 4]] paid her £40,000.<ref name="Telegraph_Mala_201105">{{cite web | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/8546445/Mala-Sen.html | title = Obituaries: Mala Sen | work=The Telegraph | date = 2011-05-30 | access-date = 2011-11-28 }}</ref> Author-activist [[Arundhati Roy]] in her film review entitled, "The Great Indian Rape Trick", questioned the right to "restage the rape of a living woman without her permission", and charged Shekhar Kapur with exploiting Phoolan Devi and misrepresenting both her life and its meaning.<ref>[http://www.sawnet.org/books/writing/roy_bq1.html The Great Indian Rape-Trick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414182145/http://www.sawnet.org/books/writing/roy_bq1.html |date=14 April 2016 }} @ SAWNET -The South Asian Women's NETwork , Retrieved 25 November 2011.</ref>

“In 1994, the year of Devi's release, Kapur's film was produced, with backing from Channel 4. The film was based on the prison diaries, and credited Mala Sen as screenwriter, but privately it angered her. It made Phoolan out to be "pathetic", she believed, and "its moral and political implications" she could never reconcile within herself. She had delivered a long script, which had been heavily edited, with graphic scenes added.

Encouraged by the writer Arundhati Roy, Devi took the film-makers – including Mala – to court, demanding the film be banned for invading her sexual privacy by showing the gang rape and for implicating her in a mass murder that she denied having committed.
Mala was forced to defend herself, though she suspected that Devi, now famous worldwide, was hoodwinking everyone. Channel 4 eventually settled out of court, paying Devi £40,000. Devi immediately ended proceedings and announced that she now supported the film. Mala stayed loyal to the film-makers, never speaking publicly against the film, and claiming it was based on many sources. She remained close to Devi in the years following, when the former outlaw underwent a remarkable transformation, becoming an Indian MP in 1996, and they were in touch up until Devi's assassination in 2001.”<ref name="guardiansenobituary" />

===Critical reception===
The film has a [[Rotten Tomatoes]] approval rating of 100% based on 25 reviews, with an average score of 7.58/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bandit_queen|title=Bandit Queen (1995)|via=www.rottentomatoes.com}}</ref> [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] called it "an eye-filling and often stirring movie", writing that at "its best, this recalls radical third-world “[[Western (genre)|westerns]]” like [[Glauber Rocha]]'s [[Antonio das Mortes|Antonio das mortes]] as well as [[Kenji Mizoguchi]]'s films about men's inhumanity to women." He writes, however, that the film "despite its ambition, bracing anger, and visual panache [...] remains many notches below such reference points because of its sensationalistic and fairly indiscriminate piling on of horrors and violence, which ultimately becomes pornographic. The issue isn't what actually happened to Phoolan Devi [...] The issue is the film's tendency to desensitize us with a surfeit of details."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/bandit-queen/Film?oid=1072328|title=Bandit Queen|first=Jonathan|last=Rosenbaum|website=Chicago Reader}}</ref> [[James Berardinelli]] gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, writing that the "picture of human indignity and suffering painted by ''Bandit Queen'' is on par with that of ''[[Schindler's List]]''. As the [[Nazis]] treated the [[Jews]] like animals, so too do the upper caste Indians regard those born into poverty and squalor." "Tightly-paced, powerfully-written, and well-acted," he writes, "''Bandit Queen'' is a first-rate adventure movie."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/bandit-queen|title=Bandit Queen|first=James|last=Berardinelli|website=Reelviews Movie Reviews}}</ref> Edward Guthmann of ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and described it as a "handsome, impassioned film" and praised Biswas' performance, calling it "fireball of unrelenting, white-hot fury -- a slap in the face to her country and its barbaric, outdated treatment of women." He notes that the film "makes no pretense of objectivity. Kapur clearly is outraged by the gender and caste biases of his country [...]"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-REVIEW-India-s-Bandit-Queen-Gets-Even-3029188.php|title=FILM REVIEW -- India's 'Bandit Queen' Gets Even|first1=Edward|last1=Guthmann|first2=Chronicle Staff|last2=Critic|date=7 July 1995|website=SFGate}}</ref> This lack of objectivity is countered by [[Richard Corliss]], who called it an "exciting movie that brings Devi's story to life with passion but without passing judgment."<ref>''[[Time (magazine)|TIME]]'' January 1st, 2000</ref>

===Awards===
* 1995: '''[[National Film Award (India)|National Film Award]]'''
** [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi|Best Feature Film in Hindi]]
** [[National Film Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]: [[Seema Biswas]]
** [[National Film Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]: [[Dolly Ahluwalia]]
* 1995: '''[[Filmfare Award]]'''
** [[Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie|Critics Award for Best Movie]]
* 1997: '''[[Filmfare Award]]'''
** [[Filmfare Best Director Award|Best Director]]: [[Shekhar Kapur]]
** [[Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award|Best Cinematographer]]: [[Ashok Mehta]]
** [[Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut|Best Female Debut]]: [[Seema Biswas]]

==See also==
*[[Phoolan Devi]]

==Further reading==
* Mala Sen, ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi'', London: Pandora/HarperCollins, 1993. {{ISBN|0-04-440888-9}}.
* Karen Gabriel, "Reading Rape: Sexual Difference, Representational Excess and Narrative Containment", in Manju Jain (ed.), ''Narratives of Indian Cinema'', New Delhi: Primus, 2009. [https://du-in.academia.edu/KarenGabriel/Papers/922265/Reading_Rape_Sexual_Difference_Representational_Excess_and_Narrative_Containment Karen Gabriel]
* Karen Gabriel, ''Melodrama and the Nation: The Sexual Economies of Mainstream Bombay Cinema (1970-2000)'', New Delhi: Kali/ Women Unlimited, 2010.

==See also==
* [[List of submissions to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film]]
* [[List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{IMDb title|id=0109206|title=Bandit Queen}}
* {{cite book
| date = 3 June 2010
| title = Outlaw: India's Bandit Queen and Me
| last = Moxham
| first = Roy
| publisher = [[Rider (imprint)|Rider]]
| isbn = 978-1-84604-182-2
}}

{{National Film Award Best Feature Film Hindi}}
{{FilmfareCriticsAwardBestMovie}}
{{Shekhar Kapur}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1994 films]]
[[Category:1994 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1990s biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Indian biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Indian crime drama films]]
[[Category:Indian feminist films]]
[[Category:Films about organised crime in India]]
[[Category:Films about rape in India]]
[[Category:Indian rape and revenge films]]
[[Category:Films about the caste system in India]]
[[Category:Films about women in India]]
[[Category:Films directed by Shekhar Kapur]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Actress National Award-winning performance]]
[[Category:1990s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of robbers]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Indian women]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Costume Design National Film Award]]
[[Category:Best Hindi Feature Film National Film Award winners]]
[[Category:Fictional portrayals of the Uttar Pradesh Police]]
[[Category:Films based on Indian novels]]

Bandit Queen - Revision history

BennieSheppard1: brief expanded layout for consistency and cleaned formatting

WikiDwarf: /* Critical reception */

UpdateBot: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

>FloorMadeOuttaFloor at 06:22, 21 June 2021