Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has voiced his frustration over the altered version of his 1994 film ' Bandit Queen ' on Amazon Prime Video. He stated that the OTT platform edited the film beyond recognition without his consent, yet it still credits him as the director. Kapur condemned the lack of respect for his creative vision and questioned whether such unauthorized changes would be made to a Christopher Nolan film. Bandit Queen, based on the life of Phoolan Devi, featured Seema Biswas in the lead role.

The discussion began after Shekhar Kapur praised the Netflix miniseries Adolescence on X (formerly Twitter). Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra responded to his post, and wrote, “Nobody will let us do something like that . One should do it as an independent film . Something of our own which is wanders , then stops, digs and goes where the smell takes us." In response, Shekhar Kapur wrote, “I wonder @IAmSudhirMishra if OTT platforms would let me make #BanditQueen the way I made it years ago. The Bandit Queen on #AmazonPrime is unrecognisable from my film. Someone has cut it beyond recognition. And yet it carries my name as Director. And no one asked me! Are we lesser beings than western directors? Would they have the guts to cut a Chris Nolan film without his permission?"

Director Kunal Kohli was shocked that 'Bandit Queen' was cut without Shekhar Kapur’s permission. Responding to Shekhar’s tweet, Kunal wrote, “Today’s @shekharkapur with your Hollywood successes would be allowed to make it. But the Shekhar Kapur before Bandit Queen would definitely not be allowed by any OTT to make Bandit Queen the way he wants to. Cutting / Hacking your film without your permission is shocking to say the least."

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta also mentioned, “That is the point I’ve been trying to make @shekharkapur. Are we here to foster superior storytelling or to produce cattle-feed ? Leave the good stories, the innovative storytelling, the silences, the slow burn, the experiments, the audacity, the budgets to the superior minds from the west. Welcome back to the days of colonisation."

Bandit Queen won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1995. It was also India’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards but was not nominated.