Richie Mehta on Turning Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi’s Story Into a 48-Hour Siege: ‘She Was Somebody Who Found Agency’
Richie Mehta did not want to make this film. When producers at Namah Pictures – Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kishor Arora and Kanwal Kohli – approached him with the rights to Phoolan Devi’s dictated autobiography, his first instinct was to turn them down. He calls himself “a non-resident Indian Punjabi boy” with no natural claim to […]
In 2019, filmmaker Richie Mehta, who had previously made his feature debut with the 2007 movie 'Amal', received an opportunity to adapt Phoolan Devi's autobiography, 'I, Phoolan: The Autobiography of India’s Bandit Queen', for a film. Initially hesitant due to his non-Indian background, Mehta was inspired by the story's portrayal of Phoolan's transformation from a powerless girl to a powerful bandit queen.
He decided to focus on a specific 48-hour siege where 2,000 armed men captured 17-year-old Phoolan Devi, her partner's murder, and subsequent gangrape, which shaped her identity. The film 'Phoolan', directed by Mehta, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Mehta strived to present Phoolan as an empowered agent of change, highlighting the intersection of poverty and gender.
The film's shooting in the Chambal region, where he spent considerable time with locals, was physically grueling but rewarding as he believed it was a story worth telling.
Written by urgent.news from The Indian Express's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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