Archive · 12 Sep 2026
Richie Mehta’s Phoolan Recasts Bandit Queen’s Siege as Thriller
Phoolan is a new movie about Phoolan Devi, a famous Indian outlaw who later became a politician.
The story mainly shows a long standoff between police and a group of dacoits in 1981.
The dacoits try to escape by using their knowledge of the land.
The film also shows parts of Phoolan Devi’s difficult childhood and the violence she experienced.
Director Richie Mehta based the story mainly on her autobiography.
He wanted to make the movie exciting enough for young audiences to watch.
He also wanted to show Phoolan as a person with strength and agency, not only as a victim.
Different people in the film give different versions of some events.
Sneha Kumari plays Phoolan in her first film role.
Richie Mehta’s Phoolan dramatizes a 48-hour police siege involving dacoits in a village in 1981.
The film draws primarily from Phoolan Devi’s autobiography and includes flashbacks to her traumatic past.
Sneha Kumari makes her film debut as Phoolan Devi, alongside Vikram Pratap Singh and Anurag Thakur.
Phoolan is scheduled to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival from September 10-20.
Mehta says he aimed for an empowering portrayal that avoids victimizing or sexualizing Phoolan Devi.
- Who
- Director Richie Mehta made the film, with Sneha Kumari playing Phoolan Devi; the story focuses on Phoolan Devi and her fellow dacoits.
- What
- Phoolan is an action thriller about a police siege of a village and an extract from Phoolan Devi’s life.
- When
- The main events depicted take place in 1981; the film is scheduled to premiere September 10-20, 2026.
- Where
- The story is set in a village in the Chambal ravines, while most of the film was shot in one village.
- Why
- Mehta wanted to explore Phoolan Devi’s lived experience through an accessible thriller while avoiding an exploitative portrayal.
- Director
- Richie Mehta
- Lead actor
- Sneha Kumari, making her film debut
- Primary source
- Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India’s Bandit Queen
- Historical setting
- 1981, during a police siege involving dacoits
- Premiere
- Toronto International Film Festival, September 10-20, 2026
- Filming location
- Ninety per cent of the film was shot in one village
- Historical context
- Phoolan Devi surrendered in 1983 and was killed in Delhi in 2001