Shekhar Kapur attacks OTT platform for editing Bandit Queen without his permission: 'Would they have the guts to...'

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur on Tuesday alleged that the streaming version of his 1994 film "Bandit Queen" is "unrecognisable" from the movie he originally directed and that it was edited without his permission. The director, also known for films such as Masoom and Mr India asked whether OTT platforms would do the same with a film by Hollywood great Christopher Nolan.

"The Bandit Queen on Amazon Prime is unrecognisable from my film. Someone has cut it beyond recognition. And yet it carries my name as Director. And no one asked me! Are we lesser beings than Western Directors? Would they have the guts to cut a Chris Nolan film without his permission?" he wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Critically acclaimed Bandit Queen revolved around the life of Phoolan Devi, the dreaded Chambal dacoit-turned-Member of Parliament. Seema Biswas played the titular role in the film, which generated a massive worldwide buzz following its premiere in Directors' Fortnight section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.

I wonder @IAmSudhirMishra if OTT platforms would let me make #BanditQueen the way I made it years ago. The Bandit Queen on #AmazonPrime is unrecognisable from my film. Someone has cut it beyond recognition. And yet it carries my name as Director. And no one asked me! Are we… https://t.co/LoYtkddlvp

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) March 18, 2025

The conversation started from Kapur's X post in which he praised Netflix mini-series Adolescence for its next level storytelling. "I'm not the first one to say this but Adolescence from Netflix redefines what truly great series can achieve. Its defies the regular 3 act structure of cause and effect and plunges you deeply into the minds of the characters and allows you to reflect upon yourself", he wrote on the microblogging site.

Fellow director Sudhir Mishra commented on Kapur's post, saying no one would let Indian filmmakers pursue a show like Adolescence. The Netflix series is a British crime drama which centres around a 13-year-old schoolboy Jamie Miller, who is arrested for the murder of a classmate. Each episode is shot in one take.