Acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has expressed frustration over the editing of his 1994 film Bandit Queen on OTT platform, claiming that the version available online has been cut “beyond recognition” without his consent.
The director questioned whether such liberties would be taken with a film by a renowned Western director like Christopher Nolan.
During an interaction with filmmaker Sudhir Mishra on X, Kapur said, “I wonder @IAmSudhirMishra if OTT platforms would let me make #BanditQueen the way I made it years ago. The Bandit Queen on #AmazonPrime is unrecognisable from my film. Someone has cut it beyond recognition. And yet it carries my name as Director. And no one asked me! Are we lesser beings than Western Directors? Would they have the guts to cut a Chris Nolan film without his permission?” he wrote.
The controversy unfolded after Kapur praised the Netflix miniseries Adolescence on X (formerly Twitter). Lauding the show’s storytelling approach, he wrote, “I’m not the first one to say this but #Adolescence from #Netflix redefines what truly great series can achieve. It defies the regular 3-act structure of cause and effect and plunges you deeply into the minds of the characters and allows you to reflect upon yourself ..It’s next level storytelling. Watch it.”
Reacting to Kapur’s post, filmmaker Sudhir Mishra lamented that such experimental storytelling would not be permitted in India, stating, “Nobody will let us do something like that. One should do it as an independent film. Something of our own which wanders, then stops, digs and goes where the smell takes us.”
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta also joined the discussion, echoing Kapur’s concerns about creative freedom in the Indian film industry. “That is the point I’ve been trying to make @shekharkapur. Are we here to foster superior storytelling or to produce cattle-feed? Leave the good stories, the innovative storytelling, the silences, the slow burn, the experiments, the audacity, the budgets to the superior minds from the west. Welcome back to the days of colonisation,” he remarked.
Kapur took to X once again on Wednesday morning to vent his frustration. “The anguish a director and editor go through when editing their films. The days/nights spent arguing, fighting over each edit, each cut. I remember those months with Renu Saluja and myself on #BanditQueen. And then some random person carelessly cuts the film for OTT release,” he wrote.
“I want to ask this person. Did you even think about the love we give for our art? Did you think about how Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s beautiful was affected as you so carelessly butchered the film? Or the performances in the film from actors? For you were not there when we shot the film in a punishing 50 degree heat,” the filmmaker added.
“You were not there when we would stay up all night discussing the nuance of each scene, each moment, of the film, before filming it? Of course not .. For we are Indian Film Makers .. so who cares,” he concluded.
Bandit Queen, based on the life of Phoolan Devi, starred Seema Biswas in the lead role. It was lauded for its raw and unflinching portrayal of the dacoit-turned-politician’s journey. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1996.