Very jealous that Shekhar, not me made 'Bandit Queen': Dibakar Banerje

Film maker Dibakar Banerjee, who Thursday presented the critically acclaimed film "Bandit Queen" at the 16th MAMI film festival, says he is jealous of Shekhar Kapoor for making the film instead of him.

"'Bandit Queen' was ahead of its times. I am here after a huge amount of depression that I went through after I watched 'Bandit Queen' when I was 23. I was only dreaming of film making then. I had realized that Shekhar had done everything that I wanted to do.

"I am here because I am permanently depressed by 'Bandit Queen' because I couldn't make it and Shekhar made it. I am very jealous that I have not made 'Bandit Queen' and Shekhar has made it," Banerjee told IANS.

Directed by Shekhar Kapoor, "Bandit Queen", based on the life of Phoolan Devi, was released in 1994 and featured Seema Biswas in the title role, Nirmal Pandey among others.

Banerjee, who says he was in awe of "Bandit Queen", said: "After watching 'Bandit Queen', I was trying to figure out how to show sex on screen without anyone getting titillated by it. That's the most difficult thing to do and I have had countless chats about it with Shekhar Kapoor."