Much more than a docudrama, Kapur's uncompromising film spares the viewer very little. Yet it is the opposite of exploitative.

| Mar 2, 2024

The director possesses the rare instinct for knowing just when to pull the camera away from scenes of abuse, providing them with considerable power without ever being exploitative.

| Mar 1, 2024

Bandit Queen may not be a strictly accurate rendering of Devi's life, but it treats its story responsibly to give a disturbing and exciting portrayal of an extraordinary woman.

| Mar 1, 2024

Bandit Queen is, firstly, a lucid narrative about injustice, as exciting as a Peckinpah western and as sharply observant of rural folkways as a film of Satyajit Ray.

| Mar 1, 2024

One of the finest films made in India that pushes the envelope of cinematic excellence.

| Sep 21, 2023

The film does not really show how she rose to icon status, but offers a passionate condemnation of the oppression of women and peasants under India's caste system.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 19, 2021

A controversial film due to its provocative portrait of the legendary Indian female warrior; even its subject later repudiated it.

| Original Score: B | May 2, 2012

This is an eye-filling and often stirring movie.

| Mar 18, 2010

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 1, 2008

In comparison with most of the Indian cinema that breaks through to the Western mainstream, Bandit Queen stands out for its political attitude and willingness to take on Hollywood sensibilities in its storytelling.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 25, 2008

The numerous, unflinchingly filmed scenes of public and gang rape make this a visceral, if gruelling, experience, especially when juxtaposed with sprawling, beautifully photographed vistas of the Indian deserts and mountain ranges.

| Original Score: 4/6 | Jan 26, 2006

Seema Biswas' lock on our fascination and sympathies is unreleasable, making for a most powerful film from India.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 21, 2002

Although the "Bandit Queen" is a film loaded with violence and hatred, it is also an affirmation of the durability of the human spirit.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 27, 2002

An astonishing, overpowering piece of rabble-rousing, consciousness-raising, epic-scale filmmaking.

| Feb 13, 2001

To watch the film -- directed with eye-opening vigor by Shekhar Kapur -- is to vicariously experience the social horrors of India's patriarchal system.

| Jan 1, 2000

At the center of the movie are two fine actresses who make Phoolan's unsettled character seem inevitable.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

An exciting movie that brings Devi's story to life with passion but without passing judgment.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

Seema Biswas, who plays the protagonist, conveys a remarkable range of suffering - bleeding, at its extremes, into a kind of pure, white-hot hate that makes the anger of Thelma and Louise look like playground stuff.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 1, 2000

A towering achievement.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 1, 2000