The true life story of Phoolan Devi, the ‘bandit queen’ of India. Devi, born as a women in a low caste, grew to be an angel of vengeance, scourge of the upper castes (the wealthy) and protectress of the lower castes. In 1983 she surrendered to the police. She was accused of many crimes, including killing thirty men. In the five years that Devi had ruled the ravines around the River Chambal, no one knew exactly what she looked like and her appearance and behaviour became the subject of much speculation. What turned this tiny woman into the myth she now is? Was she really a woman who, raised by bandits, refused to serve higher castes? Or was she the product of media hype, used for the media’s own ends? Phoolan Devi was acquitted and released in 1994 and is now a superstar preparing for a career in politics.
