Prime Video to release 'Poacher' director Richie Mehta's 'Phoolan' after Toronto premiere
Mehta, known for "Delhi Crime" and "Poacher," has directed and written the film, which will be featured in TIFF's Special Presentations program. "Phoolan" deviates from a traditional biopic format, as revealed by the makers
Emmy-winning filmmaker Richie Mehta ("Delhi Crime: Season 1", "Poacher") is gearing up for the premiere of his latest, a feature-length project titled "Phoolan". Prime Video has announced that it will be released globally for its subscribers after its official big-screen world premiere at the
Emmy-winning filmmaker Richie Mehta ("Delhi Crime: Season 1", "Poacher") is gearing up for the premiere of his latest, a feature-length project titled "Phoolan". Prime Video has announced that it will be released globally for its subscribers after its official big-screen world premiere at the
Emmy-winning filmmaker Richie Mehta ("Delhi Crime: Season 1", "Poacher") is gearing up for the premiere of his latest, a feature-length project titled "Phoolan". Prime Video has announced that it will be released globally for its subscribers after its official big-screen world premiere at the
Emmy-winning filmmaker Richie Mehta ("Delhi Crime: Season 1", "Poacher") is gearing up for the premiere of his latest, a feature-length project titled "Phoolan". Prime Video has announced that it will be released globally for its subscribers after its official big-screen world premiere at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 16, 2026.
Written and directed by Mehta, the film will be showcased in the festival's prestigious Special Presentations program. "Phoolan", the makers have revealed, is not a straightforward biopic, unlike Shekar Kapur's definitive "Bandit Queen".
Mehta's film will focus on a tense, defining 48-hour siege in the Chambal region where an impoverished 17-year-old Phoolan Devi was surrounded by more than 2,000 armed men trying to hunt her down.
Mehta based his script on Phoolan's 1997 autobiography, "I, Phoolan: The Autobiography of India's Bandit Queen." Sneha Kumari essays the titular role, alongside a supporting cast featuring Anurag Thakur, Vikram Pratap Singh, Aakash Dahiya, Prateek Pachori, and Dev Dutt Budholiya.
"Phoolan" is backed by Namah Pictures under producers Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kishor Arora, Kanwal Kohli, and Richie Mehta himself. The project is reportedly a result of Richie's five-year-long discussion. He was initially reluctant as he didn't think he was the right person to undertake a subject of this magnitude, but eventually found a way to make it work in a way that he felt was apt — a survival thriller format, to be precise — after reading the book and completing his work on "Poacher".
Acclaimed casting director Mukesh Chhabra, known for his work in "Gangs of Wasseypur", "Scam 1992", and the "Dhurandhar" films, is part of the "Phoolan" team.