Bandit Queen

Starring:Aditya Srivastava, Seema Biswas, Agesh Markam, Ajai Rohilla, Anirudh Agarwal, Anil Sahu, Anupam Shyam, Aseem Bajaj, Ashok Bulani, Ashok Sharma, Avinash Nemade, Basant Rawat, Chotelal Siraswal, Deepak Chibber, Deepak Soni, Dhawal Gwaliori, Dilip Raghuvanshi, Gajraj Rao, G.B. Dixit, Girish Solanki
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

A tale of India.......2007-06-14

Interesting story, but a bit self serving.

Shocking Portrait of Modern India.......2006-12-15

This is a disturbing film about modern day India. Looking at the cruelty and poor living conditions, compounded by a terrible caste system one wonders how India is better off today than under the old British Raj! The British soldiers always sympathized with the ill treatment of Hindi women, and often they took arbitrary revenge on Hindi males when they observed this kind of behavior. Other charming practices that the Raj curbed was Sutee. This was where a widow would burn herself before her entire family after her husband had died.

This film, while no doubt over done with excessive violence and rape, paints a frightening portrait of modern India. Looking at this work one wonders how India is expected to become such an economic powerhouse in this century. No doubt 1/3 of the country will live off the other 2/3 who will continue to live more or less as shown here. The fate of women as shown here in Hindi India is not much different than what we find in most of Islam today. Is it surprising that so many women in 3rd world countries want to escape to the West and America. After seeing this film I can understand their plight. These regions will never emerge from their backwardness until they decide to treat women with equal rights. Until then, much of what we see here shall continue to be the norm in these parts of the world. A shocking, excessively violent film, but worth looking at none the less. the DVD could use some bio info. about Poolan Devi. Her story is no doubt somewhat distorted as told here.

"I don't trust any man.".......2006-05-31

The film "Bandit Queen" examines the life of Phoolan Devi against the backdrop of the injustice of India's caste system. When the film begins, it's 1968, and Phoolan Devi is just 11 years old. Phoolan and her family are Shudras--the lowest caste in Indian society, and she's the object of an arranged marriage with a man who's paid a cow and a bicycle for her. Even though she's "not ripe" Phoolan is dragged off by her husband--ostensibly to do the work his mother can no longer perform due to her age.

A victim of beatings and rapes at the hands of her new husband, Phoolan runs back to her family. As she grows up, the fact that she's a woman who's run away from her husband leaves her vulnerable, and after being charged with enticing a headman's son--a Thakur--a member of the upper class, Phoolan, is ordered to leave the village. She does leave, but then she returns, is jailed, raped repeatedly and then bailed out by Thakurs. But the bailout isn't an act of kindness. Kidnapped by bandits, Phoolan eventually throws in her lot with bandit Vikram (Nirmal Pandey). And this presents a problem as "women are forbidden in gangs." The Thakurs do not view Vikram and Phoolan's relationship with tolerance--no doubt they reason that Vikram's relationship with Phoolan is in defiance of the recognized hierarchy--which they, naturally, control.

"Bandit Queen" isn't a particularly easy to film to watch--there are several rape scenes, and the sequence of the Behmai Massacre is not a pretty one. Based on Phoolan Devi's prison diaries, the story follows her victim hood, and as always violence begets violence. The film depicts Phoolan's character development through the major violent events in her life. In a great deal of scenes she is seen as a quivering victim in a merciless system, and then she returns breathing hell-fire and demanding revenge. Eventually forming her own gang, she became a notorious, legendary bandit with a formidable popular following. Seema Biswas as Phoolan Devi delivers an incredible performance, and the film's cinematography is exquisite. Directed by Shekhar Kapur, the film "Bandit Queen" has a stirring soundtrack and is in Hindi with English subtitles--displacedhuman

Rape Scenes and Sensitivity.......2005-09-12

Perhaps the rape scenes were emphasized to increase exposure of something that is ignored. Too quickly the subject is dismissed as something benign. Hollywood and Bollywood tend to numb the effects of the suffering of southeast Asian women. Too much sensitivity gives reason as to why it exists today.

To successfully convey this type of suffering is bold.

It is very probable that the scenes were emphasized as a fantasy exploited by a male director's privilege. But, the thought is ambiguous. So much else can come out of the story.

Some view that this movie creates the wrong impression of India to those learning about its history. Shall we claim that it never happend? To erase it is to validate what has happend and what is continuing unless there is more exposure. This movie does not try to document the entire history of India but an important part. This should be apparent to the student.

Nonetheless, to learn of Phoolan Devi's life only enough to create a review like this one is a useless scholarly exercise. I recommend that you do not watch it for this reason. Otherwise, watch every scene. Learn about how it represents a very large part of India's history. Make certain that there is not a reason left to create a movie like this again. Make it part of a movement. For their sake, don't turn it off.

bandit queen.......2005-05-31

Too much focus on the sexual aspects of this remarkable story tells me it was directed by a man. I think this film would have addressed the issue of systematic abuses of women on a much higher level if it had been written and directed by women.I am not saying that men do not make good directors, but, when the story is about women overcoming terrable things done to them, it is best told by women.

Average customer rating:

A tale of India
Shocking Portrait of Modern India
"I don't trust any man."
Rape Scenes and Sensitivity
bandit queen

Bandit Queen
Starring: Seema Biswas , Aditya Srivastava , Agesh Markam , Ajai Rohilla , and Anirudh Agarwal
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Water
The Bandit Queen of India: An Indian Woman's Amazing Journey from Peasant to International Legend
Salaam Bombay (Widescreen Special Edition)
Earth
Lagaan - Once Upon a Time in India

ASIN: B00003G4J3
Release Date: 2000-01-11

Description

Outcast. Outlaw. Legend. A woman's life erupts in a feverish spree of vengeful violence, shocking the world - and bringing a government to its knees - in this tale of modern day savagery run wild. Born of low caste, 11-year-old Phoolan is sold into marriage with a man 20 years her senior in exchange for a cow and a rusted bicycle. Challenging her fate, she escapes and falls in with a pack of ruthless bandits. But the political structure of the male-dominated gang comes with its own set of brutal humiliations, and Phoolan must struggle to rise above a culture determined to bring her down, in a bloody coup that electrified a nation - and transformed one woman's world forever.

Customer Reviews:

A tale of India.......2007-06-14

Interesting story, but a bit self serving.

Shocking Portrait of Modern India.......2006-12-15

"I don't trust any man.".......2006-05-31

Rape Scenes and Sensitivity.......2005-09-12

bandit queen.......2005-05-31

Bandit Queen [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

Bandit Queen [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Manufacturer: Siren Visual
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000EIXXJI

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.66:1), SYNOPSIS: Bandit Queen, based on the true story of legendary female warrior Phoolan Devi, is a confrontational epic that paints a far different picture of India from other arthouse productions. Devi (Seema Biswas) is married at age 11, abandoned by her husband when she resists his advances, and turned into a social outcast who, at one point, is gang-raped by the upper-caste men of one village. She later gets her revenge by organizing a massacre that leaves 20 villagers dead. Devi ultimately leads a band of latter-day Robin Hoods on bold raids against landowners in Central India during the late '70s and early '80s, often taking their spoils and redistributing them to poor tenant farmers. By the time she is arrested in 1983, Devi has become a folk hero, especially to the women who live in rural India's brutally patriarchal society. A full-fledged commercial production, handsomely produced and directed by talented Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (who emerged from the country's vaunted 'Bollywood' system), Bandit Queen painfully exposes a controversial aspect of Indian culture, while providing a triumphant portrait of female empowerment.

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