<Tr> <Th> Country </Th> <Td> India </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Language </Th> <Td> Hindi </Td> </Tr> <P> Bandit Queen is a 1994 Indian biographical film based on the life of Phoolan Devi as covered in the book India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi by the Indian author Mala Sen. It was directed by Shekhar Kapur and starred Seema Biswas as the title character . The music was composed by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan . The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie and Best Direction for that year . The film was premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, and was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival . The film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee . </P> <P> The film opens in the summer of 1968 at a small village in Uttar Pradesh . Phoolan is married to a twenty - something fellow called Puttilal (Aditya Shrivastava). Though child marriages are customary during that time, Phoolan's mother Moola (Savitri Raekwar) objects to the timing of the match . Phoolan's aging father Devideen (Ram Charan Nirmalker) conforming to his culture, regrettably disagrees, and Phoolan is sent off with Puttilal . </P>

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