(Top) Seema Parihar with Bhojpuri star Manoj Tiwari in Mumbai and Shakuntala with other cast members at the film’s mahurat in Patna on Thursday. Pictures by The Telegraph and Deepak Kumar

Patna, Sept. 22: Bandits, who once spread terror, are now set to entertain us on the silver screen.

Active in the 1980s and 1990s, Seema Parihar, who unleashed terror in the jungles of Uttar Pradesh, and Shakuntala, a cause of dread in the Madhubani district, will appear in two different movies early next year.

The dacoit from Madhubani will star in Shakuntala based on her life, the mahurat for which was organised today at a city hotel. Shakuntala, who has spent more than five years in jail on several charges, said: “I was very young when I was gangraped by villagers in Madhubani. I wanted to kill them and started to contact bandits — Mahendra Mahto and Hitaya Mahto. But they too wanted to have a physical relationship with me. I fled their captivity and later came in contact with Chalittar Mahto, who I finally married.”

Director Vinod Kumar Singh said: “This will be one of my best works. I had never thought that I would get a chance to direct such a film. Directing a real story takes a lot of effort.”

On the other end, Manoj Tiwari has cast Seema in his forthcoming project. The shooting for the film will begin next month .

The Bhojpuri actor and singer said: “She is an independent woman and has the potential to become a good artiste. I had heard a lot of bad things about her. When I met her in Big Boss, I realised that she may have been a dreaded dacoit in the past, who had been forced to take up arms but now she was a changed person.”