Shekhar Kapur raw realismWhile the film will do the festival circuit and probably premiere in London, Kapur says he's not making it for anybody but himself. Please remember didi, if I die in prison, it will not be by my own hand.' What more is there to say? The paperwallas continue to write lies about me. If she's released, she plans to sell off the piece of land the Government gave her to go and live somewhere quietly with Man Singh (a dacoit whom she had married and who himself lives like a fugitive presently, fearing for his life).' A letter Sen received from Phoolan recently sums it all up: 'You ask how I am. About Phoolan's condition today, Sen says: 'All she wants is peace. The case is now before the Supreme Court. The problem: the Uttar Pradesh Government wants to try her in the state's courts, but Phoolan does not want to move out of Gwalior jail, on the grounds that she fears for her life in Uttar Pradesh. Sen is critical of the Central Government for not honouring the 'verbal commitment' Phoolan had been given at the time of her surrender in 1981 - that she would be freed after eight years in prison. 'I see her as a victim of poverty, the caste system, the arrogance of men, and sexual assault,' she explains. 'I would have called it Little Bo Peep!' The emphasis, in other words, is not on banditry, but on what made Phoolan do the things that she did.ДЄlso, the film will not take a stand on the Behmai massacre, the key event in Phoolan's life (she was accused of killing 22 Thakur men in Behmai village, supposedly to avenge the murder of her lover Vikram Mallah and her own gang-rape by the Thakurs). 'I don't know why they are calling the film Bandit Queen,' smiles Kapur. And, for once, this is a dacoit film without the horses because, in Chambal, they don't use any.ДЄs Kapur explains: 'You can't make a film about a current life and introduce fantasy in it.' This is also a bandit queen who is shown looting only once, and she does not kill. Instead of sequins and studs, she wears either the plain khaki of the police uniform (which is what the dacoit wore) or a simple cotton sari. The dialogue is in keeping with the realism of the film. 'I'm becoming child-like: I tend to say out loud whatever I feel, which was not the case earlier.'ДЄ scene from the filmKapur made the actors spend a night in the ravines to get a feel of the place, and made them shout obscenities at one another to help them get over any hangups they may have had. The screams give way to tears, and Phoolan collapses on the ground, sobbing desperately.Д«iswas, who reads the entire film script every day to ready herself for the role and who has more or less secluded herself from the unit to bring an intensity to her performance, feels a change happening within herself.

The two start off playfully but then, all of a sudden, Phoolan turns violent - the way Mallah puts his hand on her face reminds her of the rape. (Phoolan was married off to a man 20 years older than herself, who eventually brought a second wife.) 'Whenever she tried to be happy, something or the other would happen,' she says.ДЄs an example, the actress cites a love-making scene in the film between Phoolan and her lover, Vikram Mallah. 'I'm not saying that she is innocent - that is for the viewers and the courts to decide.'Д«iswas feels that Phoolan never grew up because her very childhood was taken away from her. 'I see a great deal of innocence behind all her actions,' says Kapur. I've got to delve into my own consciousness to find the reasons for her actions.'ДЄs Kapur and Biswas search within themselves, a common perspective has begun to emerge: both believe that essentially Phoolan's was a case of lost childhood. 'And the process is filling me with venom and turmoil - I don't know how a girl who was raped at the age of 11 feels. 'I'm still trying to understand her,' he says. Turning his back on the deadline, Kapur talks about his interpretation of Phoolan Devi's life.

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