Swati Bhise’s directorial debut has secured distribution stateside. Roadside Attractions acquired U.S. rights to historical epic “The Warrior Queen of Jhansi,” Deadline reports.
Based on a true story, the film is set in British-ruled 1850s India and sees a young queen (Devika Bhise) becoming a “symbol of resistance, leading her people into a battle [against the British Empire] that would ultimately change the shape of history.”
In addition to her directing duties, Swati Bhise, who is best known for producing 2015 Dev Patel-starrer “The Man Who Knew Infinity,” produced and co-wrote “The Warrior Queen of Jhansi.” A fall release is planned for the film.
“The Warrior Queen of Jhansi is an inspirational and powerful true story of a great leader who so clearly demands big screen treatment,” Roadside co-presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff said Tuesday. “With her first film, Swati Bhise has created a beautiful epic about an amazing 19th century woman who controlled her own destiny and changed the world, by rallying her people and leading an army against British Imperialism.”
Other historical women-centric projects in the pipeline include a Hulu series about Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia and the country’s longest-ruling female leader, starring Elle Fanning, and a feature about an all-female military unit in Africa led by Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o.
