Seema Parihar, a bandit turned politician and now one of the final 14 participants of Big Boss 4, acted in Wounded - The Bandit Queen. A thrilling depiction of the life of a real Chambal bandit in the post-independence India, Seema Parihar's film Wounded called for many disputes. The film was made in the bandit infested Chambal Valley itself, running great risks to the whole unit. 

Modelled on the life of Seema Parihar, Seema Parihar's film Wounded left a mark in the history of Indian cinema with real life locales and characters. Seema Parihar's film Wounded Review showed that it was one of the most real life films of its time. Seema Parihar's film Wounded won the Critics Award in Leicester Expo Film Festival (United Kingdom) in 2005. 

Seema Parihar's film Wounded Plot

Story of Wounded or Plot of Wounded is very simple yet surprising. Seema Parihar's film Wounded Story Plot depicts the real life journey of a poor rural girl abducted at 13, turning into a bandit whose name itself was enough to loom terror over decades. Nevertheless, Seema Parihar's film Wounded was banned by the Indian Censors Board owing to its problematization of the Government and the Law. Yet, manifesting the peripheral state of the marginalized and the downtrodden, Seema Parihar's film Wounded in India created a thought upheaval.

Seema Parihar Movie Wounded opens with the protagonist Seema Parihar recalling her own life in a flashback style. The camera wents back to the childhood of Seema Parihar in a remote Uttar Pradesh village, Bawine. Born and grown up in a marginalized Taker family, Seema's childhood had been passing in breeding cattle. And the bolt from the blue. In 1983, the 13 year old innocent girl was kidnapped by the landlord Shengar Thakur family and raped by his son. Seema's father, however, refused to get his daughter married to the Thakurs. Following this, they abducted the girl with the assistance of the infamous bandits Lalaram and Kusuma Nian. 

Seema had to undergo a whole plethora of mental, physical and social torture and trauma. The government and the law remained indifferent watchers. Finally, the girl lost her faith in goodness and joined the Lalaram gang as a dacoit and soon came to a leading position. She wedded a dacoit of her gang but soon broken by his philandering. On the other hand, Kusuma, the beloved of Lalaram, showed hostility towards him and resulting in a gang clash. Lalaram is severely wounded but saved by Seema who admitted him to the closest hospital. Life seemed to go smoother then and they wedded, returning to Seema's native place. A baby was born too. Besotted by the divinity of motherhood, Seema wants to give up crime. But Lalaram continues with his old practices and this enrages his wife. At the end, Lalaram dies in a police encounter, and Seema surrenders. 

Seema Parihar Film Wounded Critique

The character of Seema is a complex one, problematizing the darker aspects of the post-independence Indian rural society. Seema is rude and foul-mouthed, dominating over male members. She was used to order her gang members to drag the caught police informers to her feet as she tortured them mercilessly. We can appropriate the Freudian and Yungian perspective to interpret this as her revenge to patriarchy she was abducted by. Narrated in a third person perspective and by an omniscient narrator, the autobiographical story gets an added parameter. Seema, despite her awful career, acted quite well in the film. Apart from her, Wounded has created a promise of a number of potential star actors, including Kanhaiya Kithwas and Pradeep Kabra, all coming from the theatre world. 

Depicting the Uttar Pradesh setting and lingo quite well in the film, and based on a real life Bandit, will Seema Parihar's film Wounded - The Bandit Queen will revitalize the good old Realism and start off a new film genre altogether? Well, the potential is there but we will have to wait to be properly answered! 

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'Wounded' is a life sketch of Seema Parihar, a dreaded dacoit who reigned to supremacy after the surrender of Phoolan Devi. Seema Parihar, the protagonist and the actress of the film, has spread terror in and around the jungle of "Bihad" for almost 18 years. The journey of Seema Parihar starts from adolescent days to the days when her terror ruled and finally to her surrender before the police in the year 2000. 

To give it a realistic look the film has been exclusively shot on real locations like Seema Parihar's ancestral village and the areas terrorized by her. Also, the film has the participation of several people who were associated with Seema during her days as a dacoit. They have also participated in the exclusive shoot, thus giving the film a "matter-of-fact" look. Like 'Omar', the film has been conceived with excessive foul language showing the real physical and mental state of dacoits and outlaws. 

'Wounded' starts off with Seema Parihar narrating her real life incidents in a simplistic manner. It kicks off from her childhood days in the rural backdrop of "Bawine" village (district in U.P). Seema Parihar, born and brought up in downtrodden Taker family, used to breed cattle in her childhood. At the innocent age of 13, she was kidnapped (in 1983) by the rich and wealthy Shengar Thakur family from her ancestral village of Bawine (district Itawa, UP). The innocent girl was victimized by lustful passion of Thakur's son. Seema's father declined the marriage offer of the mighty Thakurs. Finally, the mighty and wealthy Shengar Thakurs abduct Seema with the help of dreadfully famous dacoits -- Lalaram and Kusuma Nian. She was brutally tortured and underwent a lot of mental, physical and social trauma. Even the law makers accused Seema's family and tortured them. Seema lost her patience and belief in law to turn dacoit in the Lalaram gang. Seema, an outlaw by all yardsticks, takes her gang to new heights by robbing rich and wealthy. Seema marries a dreaded dacoit from her gang but soon his philandering acts disappoint her. Disappointed and dejected she maroons him. On the other side, Lalaram's beloved Kusuma turns hostile towards him , leading to an internal gang war. Lalaram is brutally injured but Seema saves him by admitting him to the nearest hospital. Life smoothens for them and after thirteen long years she returns to her native village. The love chemistry between Seema and Lalaram develops and she gives birth to their baby boy. Seema is besotted by the charm of motherhood and decides to give up all her criminal acts. Lalaram's evil acts continue and this infuriates Seema. Lalaram is killed in police encounter and finally Seema surrenders before the Police. 

There is the dark side of the story when her brutality surpassed all others. Seema had a complex, rude and foul-mouthed nature during her tenure as a bandit leader. She would ask her men to pick up police informers and drag them to her feet. She would even torture them mercilessly to silence them. 'Wounded' has many other brutal events which will sound painful and mentally disturbing. After all it's an autobiographical life sketch of bandit queen who had an indomitable regime of almost two decades. Besides Seema, the film has the acting potential of actors like Kanhaiya Kithwas, Pradeep Kabra and half a dozen actors from the theatre world. 'Wounded' has an outlook of dramatized news reeling, so it's preposterous to expect anything momentous from the actor's clan. Despite this all actors deserve appreciation for living up to the demands of the characters they play. This presentation from Shree Hari Om Films has been produced by the combined efforts of Shalini and Chanda. Saloni Goel and Aziz Burney have blend of strong hard hitting and expletive words that epitomize the tyranny of the destitute. It has U.P rural lingo and connects it with every event and character in an appropriate way. Ashok Das Gupta and Harish Patel's camera shoots the ravines of dusty locations where the dacoits ruled. Krishna Mishra's scripting and direction are the mind and soul of the film. Mishra deserves accolades for incorporating amateurs as the lead actors in this socially relevant brutal saga. In today's cinematic professionalism it may sound absurd but there are few who boldly enter into new genre.
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