Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Cinish Narayanan Having seen a number of Bandit movies, this one offered the true story of 'Phoolan Devi' but there was not a lot of new content. The movie does not work too well actually. Phoolan kills 24 innocent thakurs out of hatred for two thakurs and finally has to surrender due to heavy police attention. When Phoolan surrenders, the crowd cheers but why? The movie does not show Phoolan doing a lot for the people. Phoolan belongs to Mallah community and that is perhaps the reason for the support as I presume the Mallah community is quite big. The movie also shows Phoolan' s hatred for her husband but does not convince us why there should be such deep hatred. There are minimal scenes of Phoolan's bandit action too. The movie might have restricted itself to the notes from Phoolan's jail diary which in itself might have been incomplete. Well, that is something that the movie maker needs to handle and complete.I think I liked 'Paan Singh Tomaar' better which was a more complete portrayal.

Shashank Shekhar This movie is everything but the true story of Phoolan Devi. Director Shekhar Kapoor's claims are countered by the fact that he made the entire movie without even once meeting Phoolan Devi, on whose life this movie is supposed to be based! The excuse being that meeting the woman would have interfered with director's conception of the story! The film wastes the opportunity of sensitizing the society of the plight of low-caste women in the Indian society and ends up as a stereotype portraying Phoolan Devi as an angry woman whose sole motivation is revenge. No wonder, this Shekhar Kapoor's film was successful in the west as it catered to their non-bollywood tastes!

George Parker "Bandit Queen" tells the story of Phoolan Devi (circa 1970ish), a lower caste woman from the boonies of northern India who was abused and mistreated by a male dominated misogynistic culture, rebelled, turned outlaw, and became a folk hero of sorts in her own time. Not much of a movie, this two hour melodramatic biopic and adventure flick offers precious little historical context but rather dwells on the brutality. Given what in the grand scheme of cinema is very poor production value and the fact it was made prior to Phoolan Devi's last years and ultimate murder, "Bandit Queen" is a good film to pass over. Recommended only for the curious or those with a specific interest in Devi. (C)

mifunesamurai The true story of Phoolan Devi who became a national hero in India because she fought for her rights as a woman but in a violent manner. I was surprised to see a powerful film with strong images come out of India instead of the Bollywood art trash classics they churn out.