Vikram Pratap Singh, Richie Mehta, Sneha Kumari, Anurag Thakur, Aakash Dahiya posing during the world premiere of ‘Phoolan’ at TIFF 2026
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Richie Mehta’s biographical action-drama, Phoolan, received standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival 2026 after it was showcased at the iconic Princess of Wales Theatre as part of Special Presentation section on September 17, 2026.
Based on the life of Based on Phoolan Devi’s autobiography, I, Phoolan Devi: The Autobiography of India’s Bandit Queen (published by Editions Robert Laffont), the film tells the story of a defining chapter in her life, where thousands of men trap her in a village in an attempt to kill her.
The film stars Sneha Kumari as Phoolan Devi, alongside Anurag Thakur, Vikram Pratap Singh, Aakash Dahiya, Prateek Pachouri, and Dev Dutt Budholiya in pivotal roles.
The world premiere at TIFF was attended by the members of the cast along with Richie, producers Shareen Mantri Kedia, Kanwal Kohli, Kishor Arora of Namah Pictures and Shilangi Mukherji, Director & Head of SVOD Business, Prime Video, India.
Speaking about the world premiere, writer-director and producer Richie Mehta said in a statement, “Phoolan Devi’s story is one that demands to be told with honesty, and without compromise. It felt essential to me to strip away the mythology and reveal the human underneath. The themes at the heart of her story — resilience in the face of adversity, the search for dignity, and the courage to claim one’s own voice —are timeless. They resonate just as strongly today as they did then, across cultures and geographies. That is why this felt like the right moment to bring her story to the screen.”
Shareen Mantri added, “Amazon MGM Studios’ ability to bring meaningful cinema to a global stage, together, creates the right home for a story like Phoolan’s. Watching people at TIFF connect with her story reminded me why we made this film. There are stories that belong not just to one person, but to all of humanity. Phoolan’s life, defined by courage, dignity, and an unbreakable will to survive, is one such story. It is this universality that drives us to carry her narrative forward, using her story as a guiding light for storytelling that truly matters.”
Phoolan will soon get a streaming release on Prime Video.
Published – September 17, 2026 12:15 pm IST
