Bandit Queen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Aditya Srivastava, Agesh Markam, Ajai Rohilla, Anirudh Agarwal, Seema BiswasDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Assamese (Original Language); Hindi (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: KOCH LORBER FILMS
Movie Reviews of Bandit Queen
Movie Review: Another aspect of modern India - great biography of an outstanding woman Phoolan Devi
Summary: 5 Stars
I have only recently watched this movie, that had me thoroughly captivated and mesmerized and when I realized it had been directed by the talented Shekhar Kapoor of the Elizabethian triology, I tried to tie all the loose threads together. Story goes Phoolan Devi a mallah woman (low caste) was born in 1963 (when I was 6 years old), sold at 11 to a 30 year old husband, raped, sent back to her village, refused to have sexual intercourse with high class youths of her village (Thakur), banned again, abducted by bandits, raped again, saved and loved briefly by a mallah bandit of her gang Vikram who was killed when the real chief of the gang, a Thakur, was released from prison. After another mass rape, Phoolan decides to have her own gang and take revenge on those who have wronged her. She seeks them out and vengefully kills also many innocents. The Indian government decides that she has become too popular among the lower caste because of her Robin Hood manners and too ferocious as well and so intimidates her to surrender, which she does among the great acclamation by the people of her province. Phoolan Devi's real story continued and after less than ten years in jail, she was liberated and elected as a Member of the Indian Parlament. She married again and was murdered in 2001, probably by relatives of the Thakur's she had killed during her dacoit days.
Kapoor's movie was banned in India, and the real Phoolan Devi contested its many inaccuracies and the director never even tried to contact her while he was filming her story. This last fact was seen as a deep sign of disrespect and justified many criticism that are still ongoing.
However, independently from these very important issues, the movie has a deep impact still today on our perception of the condition of women and especially child brides in South Asian countries. It depicts the importance of caste belonging, Indian village culture and the mixture of rebellion and ethnic and traditional values that oppress women in many countries. Through the narration Phoolan Devi's tormented life Kapoor wants to make some points one of which surely is also common to the Elizabethian triology, that woman empowerment must pass through a negation of sexuality.
The movie is quite long, has beautiful and important music, is played by Indian actors in a completely Indian setting in the Bollywood tradition, but at the same time it is so crude, depicting violence and sex scenes to fall outside of these schemata. But most of all it grips at you and doesn't let go, it must be watched till the end and maybe seen again.
The story stays with you for long time and even though not precise and accurate it does give an idea and the feeling of the extraordinary life o Phoolan Devi.
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