Editing Phoolan Devi (section)

==Legacy==

Phoolan Devi's fame throughout India continued to grow after her death and the controversy surrounding the ''Bandit Queen'' film had already ensured that she was globally famous. She has become a legendary figure, alongside other outlaws such as [[Ned Kelly]], [[Sándor Rózsa]] and [[Pancho Villa]].<ref name="Ponzanesi" /><ref name="Seal">{{cite journal |last1=Seal |first1=Graham |title=The Robin Hood principle: Folklore, history, and the social bandit |journal=Journal of Folklore Research |year=2009 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=67–89 |doi=10.2979/JFR.2009.46.1.67 |jstor=40206940 |s2cid=144567050 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40206940 |issn=0737-7037 |access-date=21 December 2022 |archive-date=20 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220235623/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40206940 |url-status=live }}</ref> Her life has inspired biographies by Roy Moxham, Mala Sen and Richard Shears and Isobelle Gidley, as well as novels by [[Irène Frain]] and Dimitri Friedman.<ref name="Szurlej" /><ref name="Moxham-Chapters3+6">{{cite book |last1=Moxham |first1=Roy |title=Outlaw: India's Bandit Queen and me |date=2010 |publisher=Rider|location=London |isbn=978-1-84604-182-2 |chapter=Chapters 3, 6 |edition=Ebook}}</ref> A [[graphic novel]] entitled ''Phoolan Devi, Rebel Queen'' by {{ill|Claire Fauvel|fr}} was published in 2020.<ref name="PW">{{cite news |title=''Phoolan Devi, Rebel Queen'' by Claire Fauvel |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-68112-251-9 |access-date=21 December 2022 |work=Publishers Weekly |date=2 December 2020 |archive-date=21 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221160817/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-68112-251-9 |url-status=live }}</ref> The scholar Tatiana Szurlej notes that the facts presented in these biographies often contradict each other despite coming from interviews with Phoolan Devi herself and questions whether she forgot elements or adapted her account to suit her changing circumstances.<ref name="Szurlej">{{cite journal |last1=Szurlej |first1=Tatiana |title=From heroic Durga to the next victim of an oppressive patriarchal Indian culture: Too many variants of Phoolan Devi's biography |journal=Cracow Indological Studies |date=31 December 2018 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=257–280 |doi=10.12797/CIS.20.2018.02.12|s2cid=165523279 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 1994, Arundhati Roy commented that Phoolan Devi "is suffering from a case of Legenditis. She's only a version of herself. There are other versions of her that are jostling for attention."<ref name="Roy">{{cite news |last1=Roy |first1=Arundhati |title=The great Indian rape trick |url=http://www.sawnet.org/books/writing/roy_bq1.html |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=Sawnet |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414182145/http://www.sawnet.org/books/writing/roy_bq1.html |archive-date=14 April 2016}}</ref> Media theorist Sandra Ponzanesi states Phoolan Devi is an example of a Third World [[postcolonial]] subject who is aware of the racist and patronising [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] attitudes that First World analysts have of her.<ref name="Ponzanesi" />

Several films have been made about her life. Ashok Roy made the 1984 film ''Phoolan Devi'' in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and followed it the next year with a [[Hindi]] version entitled ''[[Phoolan Devi (film)|Kahani Phoolvati Ki]]'' (''The story of Phoolan'').<ref name="Figurations">{{cite book |last1=Sen |first1=Meheli |last2=Basu |first2=Anustup |title=Figurations in Indian Film |date=2013 |publisher=Springer|location=Berlin |isbn=978-1-137-34978-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gadEAgAAQBAJ |language=en |access-date=21 December 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112023510/https://books.google.com/books?id=gadEAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|23}} ''Bandit Queen'' came out in 1994 and in 2019 [[Hossein Martin Fazeli]] was developing a documentary entitled ''Phoolan''.<ref name="Sen" />{{rp|254}}<ref name="RK" /><ref name="HR">{{cite news |last1=Vlessing |first1=Etan |title=Hot Docs: Lisa Ray to voice star in Bandit Queen doc ''Phoolan'' (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lisa-ray-star-bandit-queen-doc-phoolan-hot-docs-1205533/ |access-date=5 May 2023 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=29 April 2019 |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929000631/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lisa-ray-star-bandit-queen-doc-phoolan-hot-docs-1205533/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, Farrukh Dhondy announced that he was making a web series about her life told from the perspective of Rajendra Chaturvedi, the person who arranged her surrender.<ref name="Verma">{{cite news |last1=Verma |first1=Smitha |title=I was at the right place at the right time |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2022/may/08/i-was-at-the-right-place-at-the-right-time-2450144.html |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=The New Indian Express |date=7 May 2022 |archive-date=20 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220171644/https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2022/may/08/i-was-at-the-right-place-at-the-right-time-2450144.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Phoolan Devi has been represented in [[fine art]] by painters such as [[Rekha Rodwittiya]]. Her life has also been commemorated by folk singers, making her into a mythical outlaw figure.<ref name="Brahma">{{cite journal |last1=Brahma |first1=Prakash |title=Gestures of cultural justice: Narrative justice for Phoolan Devi in epic recounting |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |year=2022 |volume=57 |issue=9 |issn=2349-8846}}</ref> [[Shirish Korde]] and Lynn Kremer wrote an opera called ''Phoolan Devi: The Bandit Queen'' which premiered in 2010 at the [[College of the Holy Cross]] in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], US.<ref name="Guerrieri">{{cite news |last1=Guerrieri |first1=Matthew |title='Bandit Queen' chronicles a complicated heroine |url=https://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/04/26/bandit_queen_chronicles_a_complicated_heroine/ |access-date=2 October 2023 |work=Boston Globe |date=26 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025182209/https://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/04/26/bandit_queen_chronicles_a_complicated_heroine/ |archive-date=25 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="Stanford">{{cite web |title=Phoolan Devi: The Bandit Queen |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/operadata/catalog/183-66522 |website=Opening Night! – Spotlight at Stanford |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003082558/https://exhibits.stanford.edu/operadata/catalog/183-66522 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The verdict in the court case concerning the Behmai massacre was delayed in 2020 because important case documents had been lost.<ref name="Shukla">{{cite news |last1=Shukla |first1=Nelanshu |title=Behmai massacre: Verdict in murder of 20 Thakurs by Phoolan Devi postponed as case diary disappears |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/behmai-massacre-verdict-in-murder-of-20-thakurs-by-phoolan-devi-postponed-as-case-diary-disappears-1638106-2020-01-18 |access-date=29 November 2023 |work=India Today |date=18 January 2020 |language=en |archive-date=17 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617212836/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/behmai-massacre-verdict-in-murder-of-20-thakurs-by-phoolan-devi-postponed-as-case-diary-disappears-1638106-2020-01-18 |url-status=live }}</ref> The last witness died the following year and since the presiding judge had been transferred, the case began again in 2022.<ref name="TT21">{{cite news |title=Last witness in Behmai massacre dies waiting for verdict |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=https://telanganatoday.com/last-witness-in-behmai-massacre-dies-waiting-for-verdict |access-date=7 May 2023 |work=Telangana Today |date=22 October 2021 |archive-date=25 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525230633/https://telanganatoday.com/last-witness-in-behmai-massacre-dies-waiting-for-verdict |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ST22">{{cite news |title=1981 Behmai case hearing begins again |url=https://theshillongtimes.com/2022/02/24/1981-behmai-case-hearing-begins-again/ |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |access-date=7 May 2023 |work=The Shillong Times |date=24 February 2022 |archive-date=4 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304132947/https://theshillongtimes.com/2022/02/24/1981-behmai-case-hearing-begins-again/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2023, another suspect died, leaving only two people on trial.<ref name="HT23">{{cite news |last1=Naqvi |first1=Haidar |title=Another accused in 1981 Behmai massacre dies, only 2 men now face trial |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lucknow-news/85yearold-accused-in-phoolan-devi-s-behmai-massacre-case-dies-leaving-only-two-in-custody-101681293588725.html |access-date=7 May 2023 |work=Hindustan Times |date=12 April 2023 |language=en |archive-date=25 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425042022/https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lucknow-news/85yearold-accused-in-phoolan-devi-s-behmai-massacre-case-dies-leaving-only-two-in-custody-101681293588725.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Mallah subcaste forms part of the [[Nishad]] caste and two Nishad political parties laid claim to Phoolan Devi's legacy.<ref name="Pioneer">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Battle of one-upmanship among two Nishad parties worries SP |url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/battle-of-one-upmanship-among-two-nishad-parties-worries-sp.html |access-date=26 October 2023 |work=The Pioneer |date=26 July 2021 |language=en |archive-date=28 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928165401/https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/battle-of-one-upmanship-among-two-nishad-parties-worries-sp.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2018, the [[NISHAD Party]] reported it would build a statue of her in [[Gorakhpur]].<ref name="AA-18" /> Three years later, in order to mark twenty years since her assassination, the [[Vikassheel Insaan Party]] (VIP) announced it would place {{convert|18|ft|m}} high statues of her in 18 [[districts of Uttar Pradesh]] and were prevented from doing so by the police.<ref name="Sahu">{{cite news |last1=Sahu |first1=Manish |title=Will install Phoolan Devi statues in 18 districts: Vikassheel Insaan Party |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/will-install-phoolan-devi-statues-in-18-districts-vikassheel-insaan-party-7420854/ |access-date=26 October 2023 |work=The Indian Express |date=25 July 2021 |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920091212/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/will-install-phoolan-devi-statues-in-18-districts-vikassheel-insaan-party-7420854/ |url-status=live |url-access= subscription}}</ref><ref name="INS">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Nishad Party to set up global trust in Phoolan Devi's name |url=https://www.indianewsstream.com/politics/nishad-party-to-set-up-global-trust-in-phoolan-devis-name/ |access-date=26 October 2023 |work=India News Stream |date=22 September 2021 |archive-date=22 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922212224/https://www.indianewsstream.com/politics/nishad-party-to-set-up-global-trust-in-phoolan-devis-name/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Mukesh Sahani]], the leader of the VIP, was prevented from leaving [[Varanasi]] airport by the [[Government of Uttar Pradesh]] when he wanted to install a statue. He reacted by setting up a foundation in Phoolan Devi's name and promising to deliver up to 50,000 small idols of Phoolan Devi, to any local person who requested one.<ref name="INS"/><ref name="Statesman">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=VIP Chief to distribute 50,000 Phoolan Devi statues in U.P |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/uttar-pradesh/vip-chief-distribute-50000-phoolan-devi-statues-u-p-1502992683.html |access-date=26 October 2023 |work=The Statesman |date=10 August 2021 |archive-date=26 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026122535/https://www.thestatesman.com/uttar-pradesh/vip-chief-distribute-50000-phoolan-devi-statues-u-p-1502992683.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Also in 2021, tributes marking the anniversary of her death were made by [[Chirag Paswan]] of the [[Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)]] and [[Tejashwi Yadav]] of [[Rashtriya Janata Dal]].<ref name="IE21">{{cite news |title=Now Tejashwi, Chirag also come out in praise of Phoolan Devi |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/now-tejashwi-chirag-also-come-out-in-praise-of-phoolan-devi-7424060/ |access-date=7 May 2023 |work=The Indian Express |date=27 July 2021 |language=en |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523170918/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/now-tejashwi-chirag-also-come-out-in-praise-of-phoolan-devi-7424060/ |url-status=live }}</ref>