The new Roadside Attractions film The Warrior Queen of Jhansi is based on the true story of the legendary Rani of Jhansi. The term Rani translates as Queen. When the East India Company way overstepped their bounds in India, their insulting practices led to violence between both the English colonizers and India. A country of Hindi and Islam, pork and cow fat were used to grease bullet cartridges given to Indian soldiers. Both are major insults to the religions of the region. When violence broke out and the Rani was told her region was no longer under her control, she gathered female soldiers to join the fight.
Devika Bhise’s portrayal of the Rani was powerful. She embodies the role and shows a power that is both masculine and feminine. Unfortunately, she gets second billing to actors that are in the film only for short moments. The film compacts the Rani of Jhansi’s childhood, marriage to the Raj, and the birth and loss of her child in a few minutes. Unfortunately, it compacts much of her story and history in order to give white characters more of an impact, leaving the film hollow and kind of boring in many areas. The film tries so very hard to make Queen Victoria and a white British soldier to be saviors for Rani. There is so much to the Rani’s story that could be explored, but unfortunately it falls back on script writing conventions.
The Warrior Queen of Jhansi is in theaters today.
