The Rani's Rebirth
THE WEEK|December 08, 2019
A mother and daughter together retell the story of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi
Lavina Melwani
The Rani's Rebirth

When Swati Bhise was growing up in Mumbai in a family of strong Maharashtrian women, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi who took on the mighty British East India Company was always upheld as the epitome of valour and strength. Yet, whenever Swati was defiant or opinionated, her mother would reprimand her: “Who do you think you are, the Rani of Jhansi?”

Flash forward a few decades and Swati now lives in New York with her daughter Devika. Both mother and daughter admire Lakshmibai as an iconic personality and it became a passion for them to retell the story of this freedom fighter. And thus happened the film The Warrior Queen of Jhansi.

Swati has had a distinguished career as a Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer, and has then segued into theater and film production. She produced the Dev Patel-starred film, The Man Who Knew Infinity. Devika, who attended Johns Hopkins University and was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, brought the Indian traditional art form of Koodiyattam to the US. She has acted in a number of theatrical and television features, and films like The Man Who Knew Infinity and The Accidental Husband.

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