New Delhi: More than three decades after Shekhar Kapur brought the extraordinary life of Phoolan Devi to the big screen with Bandit Queen, filmmaker Honey Trehan is set to direct a sequel that will explore a lesser-known chapter of her life—the journey from prison to Parliament.
The film, backed by producer Bobby Bedi, will pick up where the original ended, shifting the focus from Phoolan Devi’s life as a bandit to her years after surrendering to the police, spending 11 years in prison, entering politics and eventually being assassinated in 2001.
Honey Trehan recently came into the news after his film Satluj, starring Diljit Dosanjh and based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, was removed from ZEE5 less than 48 hours after its release on 3 July.
Trehan said that taking forward Devi’s story comes with considerable responsibility. The original film starred Seema Biswas as Phoolan Devi and Manoj Bajpayee as Man Singh.
“Bandit Queen has been a huge inspiration for filmmakers of my generation, and it’s special when I am offered the opportunity to carry that legacy forward by Bobby sir,” Trehan told the Mid-Day.
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Personal life to women’s rights
He added that the new film begins where Kapur’s film left off and that he is currently working on the screenplay and the research already undertaken by Bedi.
Bedi said there is considerably more to Devi’s life than what audiences saw in the original film.
“Bandit Queen was essentially about rape and revenge. Here, we are looking at what happens to Phoolan after she comes out of jail. It’s about a woman who has survived an extraordinary life and what she chooses to do thereafter,” he said.
The sequel will explore her relationship with Umed Singh, whom she married after her release in 1994, her personal life and her fight for women’s rights. It will also trace her political journey, during which she was elected to the Lok Sabha twice, in 1996 and 1999, before being assassinated outside her Delhi residence in 2001.
The original Bandit Queen was based on journalist Mala Sen’s book India’s Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi. Released in 1994, the film also became India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 67th Academy Awards.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)