Bandit Queen is a 1994 Indian film based upon the life of Phoolan Devi. It was directed by Shekhar Kapur and starred Seema Biswas as the title character. It was produced Bobby Bedi's Kaleidoscope Entertainment.
Plot
The film opens in the summer of 1968 at a small village in Uttar Pradesh. Phoolan, eleven years old (played by Sunita Bhatt) [1], 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) hesitates at first, but eventually agrees, and Phoolan is sent off with Puttilal.
Phoolan is exposed to some sobering realities, including the caste system. (Phoolan's family as well as Puttilal's family belong to the lower ranked 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 Thakur men (whose parents make up the panchayat or village government). At the next town meeting, the panchayat decides to banish Phoolan from the village.
Accordingly, Phoolan leaves 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 cops (to try and have her ban lifted), but she is beaten, molested, and arrested by the cops. The Thakurs put up bail and have her released. But, unknown to her, the bail is a bribe (paid, through the cops, 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 hard, violent and ruthless mercenary. Although Gujjar's lieutenant Vikram is sympathetic towards Phoolan, Gujjar indiscriminately brutalizes 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. Around this time, Phoolan revisits her former husband Puttilal, abducts him and savagely beats him up; after this cathartic outburst, she shares her closure with Vikram.
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 leadership style and covets Phoolan. In August 1980, Shri Ram arranges to have Vikram assassinated, and brings Phoolan to the village of Behmai. Phoolan is repeatedly raped by Shri Ram and by the rest of the gang members, as punishment for her "disrespect" for his previous advances. The stunning and disturbing final 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 quickly, 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 sordid tale 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 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 exacts revenge from the entire Thakur clan of Behmai. She rounds up the men and beats them up. She finally has all the men shot. This ruthless act of vengeful barbarism underscores her moniker and 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 quickly comes to their aid.
The manhunt claims many lives in Phoolan's gang. The 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
Awards
Further reading
- India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi, by Mala Sen. Published by Pandora, 1993. ISBN 0044408889.
References
- ^ This is one of the many inaccuracies or creative licenses. The real life Phoolan Devi was born in 1963 and was married when she was about 11. See Phoolan Devi for more details
External links
