Phoolan was screened at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival.
It received a standing ovation from a packed audience of over 2,000, leaving audiences deeply moved.
The film stars Sneha Kumari as Phoolan Devi, alongside Anurag Thakur, Vikram Pratap Singh, Aakash Dahiya, Prateek Pachouri, and Dev Dutt Budholiya.
International Emmy Award-winning director Richie Mehta’s film Phoolan had its world premiere at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival. It was showcased at the iconic Princess of Wales Theatre as part of TIFF’s prestigious Special Presentation section.
The film stars Sneha Kumari as Phoolan Devi, alongside Anurag Thakur, Vikram Pratap Singh, Aakash Dahiya, Prateek Pachouri, and Dev Dutt Budholiya. The cast and the creative team attended the screening alongside Mehta.
Phoolan receives standing ovation at TIFF 2026
Mehta's film received a standing ovation from a packed audience of over 2,000, leaving audiences deeply moved and drawing unanimous praise from critics and cinephiles alike.
About Phoolan
Based on Phoolan Devi's autobiography, I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen, the action-drama "chronicles the extraordinary and tumultuous moments in Phoolan Devi's life during a 48-hour siege in which she defies an armed group of 2,000 men."
Presented by Amazon MGM Studios, Phoolan is produced by Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kishor Arora, Kanwal Kohli and Mehta.
It will premiere on Prime Video in India soon. The release date hasn't been announced yet.
What Richie said about the world premiere
Richie Mehta, who has also written the film, said he 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."
He felt it essential 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."
"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," he added.
