Bandit Queen
Bandit Queen | |
---|---|
Directed by | Shekhar Kapur |
Written by | Mala Sen |
Based on | India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi by Mala Sen |
Produced by | Bobby Bedi |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ashok Mehta |
Edited by | Renu Saluja |
Music by | Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 119 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Budget | ₹32.5 million[2] |
Box office | est. ₹221 million (see below) |
Bandit Queen is a 1994 Indian
Plot
The film opens in the summer of 1968 at a small village in Uttar Pradesh.
Phoolan is exposed to some sexual and exploitative abuses, including the
Accordingly, Phoolan lives with her cousin Kailash (Saurabh Shukla). En route to another village, she encounters a troop of dakus (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 policemen, who rape her 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 and shoots him in the head. Vikram takes over the gang, and his empathy for Phoolan eventually grows into a relationship.
All goes well until Thakur Shri Ram (
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 equal. The final humiliation and punishment is that she is stripped naked, paraded around Behmai, beaten, and sent to fetch water from the well (in full view of the village).
A severely traumatized Phoolan returns to her cousin Kailash. She recovers gradually and seeks out Man Singh (
Phoolan leads her new gang with courage, generosity, humility, and shrewdness. Her stock and her legend grow. 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 on 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 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 Raoas Ashok Chand Thakur (Sarpanch's son)
- Saurabh Shukla as Kailash
- Manoj Bajpayee as Maan Singh
- Raghuvir Yadavas Madho
- Rajesh Vivek as Baba Mustakim
- Anirudh Agarwal as Babu Gujjar
- Govind Namdev as Thakur Shri Ram
- Shekhar Kapur as a Lorry driver (cameo appearance)
Soundtrack
Bandit Queen | |
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Film score by | |
Released | 1995 |
Genre | Filmi, Hindustani classical |
Length | 1:16:00 |
Label | Oriental Star Agencies |
Producer | Roger White |
The film's music was composed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, with Khan also voicing the non-instrumental pieces in the soundtrack which include tracks based on traditional Rajasthani music.[9][10]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Sanware Tore Bin Jiya" | 6:55 |
2. | "Sajna Tere Bina" | 6:53 |
3. | "More Saiyaan To Hai Pardes" | 8:01 |
4. | "Welcome Phoolan" | 0:48 |
5. | "Opening" | 1:56 |
6. | "Out of Water, Into Marriage" | 0:53 |
7. | "Child Bride" | 3:08 |
8. | "Child Rape" | 3:07 |
9. | "Phoolan & Vikram Eye to Eye" | 1:28 |
10. | "What I Am Here For" | 3:25 |
11. | "City Love Making" | 1:48 |
12. | "Washing At the River Bank" | 1:17 |
13. | "Village Court" | 1:36 |
14. | "Re-Opening" | 1:18 |
15. | "Into the Hills" | 1:21 |
16. | "The Quiet" | 1:44 |
17. | "The Passion" | 2:48 |
18. | "Chottie See" | 1:14 |
19. | "Re-Opening By the River" | 1:52 |
20. | "Chottie See 2" | 3:54 |
21. | "Phoolan's Revenge" | 2:32 |
22. | "Hillside Drums" | 1:16 |
23. | "Death to the Bandit" | 0:42 |
24. | "Red Bandana" | 1:22 |
25. | "Janmanchpur" | 1:33 |
26. | "Preparation" | 5:08 |
27. | "Behmai" | 1:19 |
28. | "Funeral Pyres" | 1:56 |
29. | "The Surrender of Phoolan" | 4:52 |
Total length: | 1:16:00 |
Release
Box office
In India, the film grossed ₹206.7 million[2] ($5,833,545).[11] In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $399,748[12] (₹14,164,271).[11] Combined, the film grossed approximately ₹221 million ($6.23 million) 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 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.[13] 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.[14]
Critical reception
The film has a
Awards
39th Valladolid International Film Festival:
Nominated
- Golden Spike for Best Feature Film – Shekhar Kapur
- Best Feature Film in Hindi – Kaleidoscope Entertainment
- Best Actress – Seema Biswas
- Best Costume Design – Dolly Ahluwalia
Won
- Best Director – Shekhar Kapur
- Best Female Debut – Seema Biswas
- Best Cinematography – Ashok Mehta
Nominated
- Best Film – Kaleidoscope Entertainment
- Best Actress – Seema Biswas
Further reading
- Richard Shears and Isobelle Gidley, Devi: The Bandit Queen, ISBN 0-04-920097-6.
- Mala Sen, India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi, ISBN 0-04-440888-9.
- Irène Frain, Devi, ISBN 978-2-21-302899-6. (in French)
- Phoolan Devi, Marie-Thérèse Cuny and Paul Rambali, I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen, ISBN 0-31-687960-6
- Roy Moxham, Outlaw: India's Bandit Queen and Me, Rider, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84-604182-2
Other sources
- Manju Jain, Reading Rape: Sexual Difference, Representational Excess and Narrative Containment pp. 9–16, in: Narratives of Indian Cinema Primus, 2009 ISBN 978-9-38-060779-5
- India's Bandit Queen by Mary Anne Weaver
- Sunita J. Peacock, Phoolan Devi: The Primordial Tradition of the Bandit Queen, pp. 187–195, in: Transnationalism and the Asian American Heroine: Essays on Literature, Film, Myth and Media, ISBN 978-0-78-644632-2
See also
- List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
- List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
- List of submissions to the 67th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- Phoolan Devi (1985 film)
References
- ^ "On With The Offbeat". Outlook. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Bandit Queen - Movie". Box Office India. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ "FILM REVIEW; True Story Of Modern Legend". The New York Times. 30 June 1995.
Shekhar Kapur's movie biography, based on Miss Devi's prison diaries, is a rip-roaring action-adventure film that defies credibility despite its truth.
- ^ Kotak, Ash (13 June 2011). "Mala Sen obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Anurag Kashyap: 'The perception of India cinema is changing'". Digital Spy. 28 May 2012.
- ^ "Shekhar Kapur, exclusive interview". Festival de Cannes. 18 May 2010.
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ^ 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
- ^ "Bandit Queen (1994)". MySwar.
- ^ "Bandit Queen, Vol. 51", Spotify, 1 January 1995.
- ^ a b "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average)". World Bank. 1994. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ "Bandit Queen (1995)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
- ^ "Obituaries: Mala Sen". The Telegraph. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ^ The Great Indian Rape-Trick Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine @ SAWNET -The South Asian Women's NETwork , Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ "Bandit Queen (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. 30 June 1995.
- ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (26 October 1985). "Bandit Queen". Chicago Reader.
- ^ Berardinelli, James. "Bandit Queen". Reelviews Movie Reviews.
- ^ Guthmann, Edward (7 July 1995). "Film Review -- India's 'Bandit Queen' Gets Even". SFGate.
- ^ Time. January 1, 2000.
- ^ Kumar, S. R. Ashok (12 January 1996). "The cream of Indian cinema". The Hindu. p. 26. Archived from the original on 21 December 1996.
External links
- Bandit Queen at IMDb
- Moxham, Roy (3 June 2010). Outlaw: India's Bandit Queen and Me. ISBN 978-1-84604-182-2.