The Warrior Queen of Jhansi will only be showing a week or two in smaller venues and art house theaters, but make sure you put it on your list of movies to see.
Most Americans have learned very little about Indian history aside from the story of Gandhi. To see this based-on-a-real person story of an Indian “queen” who taught her villages’ women to fight like men with swords and bow and arrows, and who lead a rebellion against the East India Tea Company that ultimately forced them out of business was just mind-blowing, and exciting.
When I did some research on both the Indian history and how this movie was made, I was even more fascinated. A mother/daughter team made this film. The mother wrote, produced and directed the film, and she and her daughter, who is the lead actress, wrote the screenplay. They even designed some of the costumes. This is obviously a matriarchal family passion project, and how awesome is that? That alone should be reason to see the film.
In the real life part of this story (see a link to an overview on the life of Laxmibai, Rani of Jhansi below), I was flabbergasted to learn that a legion of all female Indian soldiers was created in 1943 and named after her. I had thought the female soldiers in Wakanda were a big deal – this is better because it’s real.
Overlooked no more – missing obituaries in the NY Times recently ran an obit for Laxmibai
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/obituaries/laxmibai-rani-of-jhansi-overlooked.html