Phoolan, Richie Mehta film on Phoolan Devi, gets standing ovation during premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
The world premiere of Richie Mehta’s Phoolan took place at the ongoing Toronto International Movie Festival on Wednesday evening. The movie, based on the life of bandit-turned-legislator Phoolan Devi , was lauded at the prestigious movie festival, earning a standing ovation from a packed auditorium.
Adding to this, Phoolan had its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Movie Festival. Phoolan gets a standing ovation The Amazon original movie, directed and written by Richie Mehta, was screened at TIFF 2026 as part of the festival's coveted Special Presentation section, where it left the audience moved, earning almost unanimous praise. Screened at the iconic Princess of Wales Theatre — one of Toronto's most celebrated cultural landmarks, Phoolan received a standing ovation from a packed audience of over 2000.
Meanwhile, Phoolan stars Sneha Kumari in the titular role, and the star led the movie’s contingent at TIFF, soaking in the applause. Also representing the movie were cast members Anurag Thakur, Aakash Dahiya, and Vikram Pratap Singh. They were joined on the red carpet by writer-director-producer Richie Mehta, and producers Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kanwal Kohli, Kishor Arora of Namah Pictures and Shilangi Mukherji, Director & Head of SVOD Business, Prime Video, India, representing Amazon MGM Studios, India.
Notably, Speaking about the world premiere, writer-director and producer Richie Mehta shared in a note, “Phoolan Devi's story is one that demands to be told with honesty, and without compromise. I was drawn to a very specific chapter of Phoolan's life, the formative years before the world knew her name, contrasted with the period where she was a misunderstood legend. It felt essential to me to strip away the mythology and reveal the human underneath. The themes at the heart of her story — resilience in the face of adversity, the search for dignity, and the courage to claim one's own voice —are timeless. They resonate just as strongly today as they did then, across cultures and geographies. That is why this felt like the right moment to bring her story to the screen. From Poacher to Phoolan, Amazon MGM Studios has been a true creative collaborator, one that backs a filmmaker's vision and gives stories like these the global canvas they deserve. To witness the audience at TIFF rise to their feet, visibly moved, tells me that Phoolan's story has connected in exactly the way we hoped it would. I hope I have done justice to her voice and her story, the way she wanted the world to know.”
As per the latest buzz, Based on Phoolan Devi's autobiography, I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen, published by Editions Robert Laffont, the movie tells the story of a defining chapter from her life, centred on a brutal 48-hour siege in which she defies an armed group of 2000 men. Produced by Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kishor Arora, Kanwal Kohli and Richie Mehta, Phoolan is a Namah Pictures production. Following its World Premiere at TIFF, the Hindi action drama will premiere on Prime Video. A rollout date is yet to be revealed.
In further updates, Popularly known as Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi was a popular figure in India's pop culture in the 80s and 90s. Her life journey from a bandit to a Member of Parliament was chronicled by Shekhar Kapur in the controversial 1994 movie Bandit Queen. The movie starred Seema Biswas as Phoolan, with Nirmal Pandey, Aditya Srivastava, Gajraj Rao, Saurabh Shukla, Manoj Bajpayee, and Raghuvir Yadav in supporting roles. The movie won three National Movie Awards, including Best Star for Seema Biswas and the Best Hindi Feature Movie. However, its rollout was not without row. Phoolan herself opposed the movie, threatening self-immolation if the movie was rolled out.
On top of that, Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Movie Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world. Read More
Source: Hindustan Times