When Shekhar Kapur went to receive a Filmfare Award in handcuffs and it was for Bandit Queen

Bandit Queen is a biographical drama about India’s most feared female bandit Phoolan Devi, featuring Seema Biswas.

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

June 30, 2023 - 2:23 PM IST

Bandit Queen, which was mired in controversies for its graphic representation of rape and violence, was also considered to be one of the most heartfelt biographies that opened up about the true story of one of India’s most famous female dacoit Phoolan Devi. The film, although was banned by Indian officials initially for its content, later received a green signal and went on to become quite famous with Shekhar Kapur also receiving a Filmfare Award for the Seema Biswas starrer. Shekhar Kapur recalled the time he was felicitated for the film and as a part of his Throwback Thursday post, he shared a photo of him attending the awards in handcuffs.

When Shekhar Kapur went to receive a Filmfare Award in handcuffs and it was for Bandit Queen

On June 29, Shekhar Kapur took to social media to share a memory of him receiving Filmfare Awards for Bandit Queen in handcuffs. The filmmaker revealed that the handcuffs were a metaphorical representation of how he was asked to retain silence about his controversial movie. He said, “Was asked by FilmFare not to make any political or controversial statements for my award for Bandit Queen. The ceremony was being televised on National TV. And the film was banned anyway .. I kept my promise. Didn’t say a word .. but .. that’s how I went on stage .. handcuffed.”

Was asked by FilmFare not to make any political or controversial statements for my award for Bandit Queen. The ceremony was being televised on National TV. And the film was banned anyway ..
I kept my promise. Didn’t say a word .. but .. that’s how I went on stage .. handcuffed pic.twitter.com/8VBy4n23fv
— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) June 28, 2023

He further elaborated on the reason in another post that was shared on the same day on Instagram, wherein he added, “Zoom into my wrists carefully.. you’ll see them handcuffed .. it was what I called the #BanditQueen effect .. FilmFare decided to give me an award for my film Bandit Queen. But because it was banned and because there was so much controversy around the film, they made me promise I would not make any political or controversial statements .. as the awards ceremony was going out live on National TV.” He continued, “I kept my promise .. and didn’t say a word .. I took the award and raised my hands up in the air and the audience saw that I was handcuffed ! The audience roared in approval. Actions often speak greater than words ..”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @shekharkapur

Bandit Queen also featured Aditya Srivastava, Nirmal Pandey, Govind Namdeo, Manoj Bajpayee, Saurabh Shukla, Gajraj Rao, among others in pivotal roles. The film revolves around the rise of Phoolan Devi, a lower caste young woman who is gang raped, publicly humiliated by powerful men that sets her off on a violent mission to avenge her predators.

Also Read: Shekhar Kapur takes a trip down memory lane; shares cherished moment from Masoom set