TIFF Review: “Phoolan”

Phoolan (Richie Mehta, 2026) 4 out of 5 stars

Phoolan Devi, known as India’s “Bandit Queen,” may have been assassinated in 2001, but her earlier armed rebellion against the country’s deep-seated misogyny and caste prejudice made of her a star that keeps shining today. In writer/director Richie Mehta’s latest work, Phoolan, she is an unstoppable force to be reckoned with, refusing to accept the terms dictated by her world. Though born impoverished and a survivor of multiple rapes, she strikes back, taking revenge on a system that would otherwise erase her and others like her. The film is a clarion call for justice, and also a very effective thriller.

Sneha Kumari stars in the title role, bringing a tough resolve and the needed hard edge to the performance. Her Phoolan is nothing if not determined, no matter the legions of constables enlisted to track her down and kill her. True, from one perspective, she is a violent criminal, attacking and murdering members of the rich elite. But one person’s terrorist is another’s revolutionary, and it’s important to understand the why and the how of her actions.

In the provincial area where the plot unfolds, as represented here, women and lower-caste individuals are without rights, forced to accommodate those with greater wealth and social status. After Phoolan’s father’s cousin steals much of his land, her family is effectively destitute, and every time they complain, that cousin and his brethren and children—and the police—rape Phoolan (fortunately, we only hear about this and are not forced to see any of it). It’s an untenable situation, especially for someone with a strong sense of self.

We also learn that Phoolan was married off at 11 and raped by her husband, as well. So by the time we see her, later, inflicting the maximum punishment on other men who have raped other women, it’s difficult not to see this as a valid response, especially since the forces of law and order participate in the subjugation of women. What else is one to do if society arrays its power against you?

Following a brief opening prologue set in 1979, we begin the narrative in the midst of a 1981 police action against Phoolan’s gang (someone local has betrayed them, it turns out). We then cut back and forth from that battle to events from Phoolan’s past that explain how she became the brutal Robin Hood-like figure of the present. Slowly, we come to understand the horrors that transformed her.

Though almost the entire constabulary is rotten to the core—boasting about using rape to teach women a lesson—there is one good apple, played by Anurag Thakur (Black Warrant), whose behavior and moral choices only serve to emphasize how bad everyone else is. If the reality on the ground in India—then and/or now—is anything like what is portrayed here, I’m surprised there are not more constant uprisings. Rape should never be tolerated.

As a movie, Phoolan engages in direct, adrenaline-fueled ways, with some enjoyably surprising plot twists. The pacing is not always perfect, but the net effect is still intense. Even if Phoolan Devi’s life was eventually cut short, in this story she triumphs. May she lead by example and strike terror into the hearts of all bullying men.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.