THE WARRIOR QUEEN OF JHANSI

A film about females, made by females for EVERYONE.

This film details the life of Manikarnika Tambe who died at the age of 29 and

the events that lead to her death. While it is a very short period of time in India's long

struggle for independence, her resolution to revel against injustice and her determination

to do all she could within her means is very inspiring, she became a symbol of resistance

and left a legacy of bravery as a role model for Indian nationalists. Specially females.

Known and feared as Rani Lakshmibai or The Queen of Jhansi to the invaders, her story has been

memorialized and repeated often in text books, novels, poetry and film etc., becoming a part

of India's history.

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi is a period drama that aims for veracity and the depiction of the

facts as closely as research and known facts allow. By all accounts the real Rani was an exceptional

young lady in many ways but even so she was a proper Hindu woman, who behaved as expected by

her status in life, and the rules that society assigned to females of the time. It was only until

after she was left with no options that she chose to rise up and toppling the confines of gender

and status she became a true warrior and an example of patriotism.

Her story is NOT of glamour and ego. BUT of valor and sacrifice. A story bigger than any actor.

The WARRIOR QUEEN of JHANSI film is directed by the very talented visionary Swati Bhise, co-written

by Swati Bhise and Devika Bhise, Produced by Swati Bhise and Charles Salmon. Starring Devika Bhise,

Rupert Everett, Derek Jacobi who with other multi talented contributors round out this

labor of love and history.

Thankfully the makers have strived for reality and without sacrificing the grandeur of the

production they have kept the accents as close as possible to how it should have been,

(many productions use non British English actors, who mix bad English and bad Hindi,

making them all sound like a comical farce). The scenery and the action shots have the impact

necessary to convey the urgency and determination, but thankfully they have avoided the fantastical

and the unreal, like the slicing of a body in two with the single swoop of a sword, a feat

impossible for a huge soldier and comical when done by a 100 pound female. Triple somersaults

and gymnastic routines are best kept to the Olympics and the film makers concentrated on

synchronizing dialog delivery and action, to achieve a very good result. I hope audiences around the

world go see this beautiful production as it presents a good introduction to a part of India's history

that is unfamiliar to many.

I hope that audiences in India do not confuse this production with the recent attempts of a film

named Manikarnika, that fell short of the mark and cheated the public out of the value an importance

the history merits. So I hope they do go see it without any reservations nor pre conceived notions. It

is a fine production and a credit to the makers, the history and the Rani's legacy.