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Bandit Queen

Name: Bandit Queen
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, History
Released: 1994-01-26
Cast: Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey, Rajesh Vivek, Raghubir Yadav, Aditya Srivastava

1994 | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama, History

Saturday Specialearly rating

Why it’s a Saturday Special

Critics loved it (97% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it's still drawing plenty of interest, despite soft box office. A strong pick for the weekend.

Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.

Is it for you?

Who'll love it: Made for crime-drama fans, action fans and history buffs. If you loved Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair or Gangs of New York, start here.
The mood: Dark and gritty.
The pace: Takes its time with its characters, at 1 hr 59 min.
What might put you off: It's in Hindi, so expect subtitles (or a dub).

Born a lower-caste girl in rural India's patriarchal society, "married" at 11, repeatedly raped and brutalized, Phoolan Devi finds freedom only as an avenging warrior, the eponymous Bandit Queen. Devi becomes a kind a bloody Robin Hood; this extraordinary biographical film offers both a vivid portrait of a driven woman and a savage critique of the society that made her.

How it earned its rating

CriticsVery strong
97% on Rotten Tomatoes
AudiencesNot counted
Not measured yet: not enough ratings
AwardsWeak
0 wins and 1 nomination from smaller awards and festivals
Box office & staying powerBelow par
$0K worldwide; still draws a steady audience long after release
Buzz & cultural impactStrong
About 206K people sought it out in the past year

Trailer

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Cast & crew

Directed by Shekhar Kapur

Seema BiswasPhoolan Devi
Nirmal PandeyVikram Mallah
Rajesh VivekMustaquim
Raghubir YadavMadho
Aditya SrivastavaPuttilal
Manoj BajpayeeMan Singh
Ranjit ChowdhryShiv Narain
Harish KumarTarika
Govind NamdeoSriRam
Hemant PandeyAshokchand's Friend