Cinish Narayanan Having seen a number of Bandit movies, this one offered the true story of 'Phoolan Devi' but there was not a lot of new content. The movie does not work too well actually. Phoolan kills 24 innocent thakurs out of hatred for two thakurs and finally has to surrender due to heavy police attention. When Phoolan surrenders, the crowd cheers but why? The movie does not show Phoolan doing a lot for the people. Phoolan belongs to Mallah community and that is perhaps the reason for the support as I presume the Mallah community is quite big. The movie also shows Phoolan' s hatred for her husband but does not convince us why there should be such deep hatred. There are minimal scenes of Phoolan's bandit action too. The movie might have restricted itself to the notes from Phoolan's jail diary which in itself might have been incomplete. Well, that is something that the movie maker needs to handle and complete.I think I liked 'Paan Singh Tomaar' better which was a more complete portrayal.

George Parker "Bandit Queen" tells the story of Phoolan Devi (circa 1970ish), a lower caste woman from the boonies of northern India who was abused and mistreated by a male dominated misogynistic culture, rebelled, turned outlaw, and became a folk hero of sorts in her own time. Not much of a movie, this two hour melodramatic biopic and adventure flick offers precious little historical context but rather dwells on the brutality. Given what in the grand scheme of cinema is very poor production value and the fact it was made prior to Phoolan Devi's last years and ultimate murder, "Bandit Queen" is a good film to pass over. Recommended only for the curious or those with a specific interest in Devi. (C)

fantastic_fop I think that the movie was really good. Subject, acting and Nusrat Fateh ALi Khan's music were marvellous. Although the director has succeeded in showing the status of women in rural areas and how they suffer at the hands of male-dominated culture, he has neglected Phoolan's character a bit and has focussed more on the violence faced by her.

Yadokari It may interest people to know that this film was made without any recourse to Phoolan Devi herself and, when she did finally see parts of it, was so enraged that she announced that the film was not to be shown in India or she would cover herself in petrol and set fire to herself. I do not know whether it was shown at all or not, but given her standing at the time as a rising politician, I doubt it. Since then, I saw a report that she has been ousted from office and charged with further crimes from her Dacoit days, and has gone into hiding as a result.Her own concerns aside, this is an excellent film, made all the more so by its refreshingly brutal approach; none of the rose-tinted melodrama one might expect from a typical indian film. It should be stressed that concerns about how feminist the film's messages really are and the like are essentially irrelevant: it's a true story. Her misgivings are, it seems, not with what is depicted but with the way in which the film depicts her.