'Bandit Queen' to 'Water': Seema Biswas's must-watch films
National Film Award-winning actor Seema Biswas is best known for infusing life into the eponymous role in Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen. Also featuring Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Srivastava, and Manoj Bajpayee, the film was based on dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi. While Bandit Queen remains her biggest claim to fame, Biswas has racked up an impressive filmography comprising projects across genres. On her birthday, watch these films.
'Bandit Queen' (1994)
Biswas was honored with the National Film Award (Best Actress) for Bandit Queen. The Kapur directorial was also chosen as India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards. The biographical adventure actioner was based on the book India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi (1993) by Mala Sen. Watch it on Amazon Prime Video or YouTube.
'Ek Hasina Thi' (2004)
Biswas collaborated with noir auteur Sriram Raghavan for Ek Hasina Thi, a cold-blooded dark revenge story headlined by Saif Ali Khan and Urmila Matondkar. Biswas played ACP Malti Vaidya—a pivotal part of the cast ensemble. Other actors who starred in Ek Hasina Thi include Pratima Kazmi, Srivastava, Kavita Kaushik, and Sheeba Chadha. It is streaming on Prime Video and YouTube.
'Water' (2005)
Deepa Mehta's Water is the final part of her Elements trilogy, with the first two being Fire (1996) and Earth (1998). Mehta's film lent Biswas a chance to play Shakuntala, an enigmatic woman who stays at a widows' ashram. John Abraham, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Lisa Ray, and Raghubir Yadav, among others, embellished this arthouse movie. It holds a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
'Vivah' (2006)
Who can forget Biswas's role as Rama in Sooraj Barjatya's audience-favorite film Vivah? Perhaps her most popular mainstream commercial film, Vivah, is memorable in her resume since it featured her as an out-and-out villainous figure, and she fit right into the evil stepmother trope. She made the audience hate her character, and what better compliment than that for an actor?
