The Warrior Queen of Jhansi | 2019 | R | – 1.7.3

Why is “The Warrior Queen of Jhansi” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a marriage between a teenage girl and an older man, and an implied rape; several scenes of battles between British armed forces and Indian people during a mutiny over control of Indian provinces with scenes of blood splattering from wounds, many dead bodies, wounded people in field hospitals and people suffering from cholera, and a horse being put down after an injury to its leg; and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Based on the true story of Lakshmibai (Devika Bhise), the Queen of Jhansi, who in 1857 led a mutiny against the British East India Company and colonial rule. Also with Rupert Everett, Derek Jacobi, Ben Lamb, Nathaniel Parker and Jodhi May. Directed by Swati Bhise. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Hindi with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:42]

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi SEX/NUDITY 1

 – We hear that a 15 year-old-girl married a much older man. A teen girl is shown to be pregnant and we see her in labor (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► A soldier tells a woman nursing an infant, “Give me some motherly love” as he approaches in a threatening manner (rape is implied). A woman tells other women to always look beautiful so that, “Heads will turn before they roll.”
► A woman is shown wrapped with a towel and cleavage is visible. Women’s outfits sometimes reveal their bare abdomens.

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A man grabs another man and holds a sword to his throat, yells at him and slits his throat (blood sprays and floods from the wound); a woman yells and collapses on the dead man before being pulled away by armed men. A woman fights many armed soldiers using a sword, a knife and a bow and arrow; we see slashing, blood spurting and stabbing as other soldiers shoot rifles at people fighting them within the walls of a city. Three women on horseback ride away from a battle and two are shot off their horses (we see blood splatters and they fall) and the third woman appears to also have been shot and she continues to ride away. A woman on horseback slashes several soldiers attacking her, until others pull her off the horse; she is taken to another man and questioned, she refuses to answer and drops back off a tall wall to the ground, dying (we see blood on the ground). Many men on horseback charge soldiers with rifles and they fight: several men are shot off their horses, men on the ground are slashed and fall, a woman is pulled off her horse and she slashes many men that try to grab her (blood sprays from their wounds and her face is splattered with blood).
► Many armed soldiers storm the walls of a city and try to scale the walls; they are fired upon with flaming arrows, their ladders are pushed off the walls and boiling oil is spilled on them (we hear men screaming and falling to the ground as they are struck and doused).
► A wounded man is shown with a lot of blood on his head and clothing as he reports many casualties. A large amount of blood is shown splattered on a wall. Two men are shown hanging from a rope in a tree. Men on horseback approach soldiers outside a city and attack them: we see many dead bodies on the ground in daylight (some blood is visible). A man lights a cannon and it misfires, blowing him off-screen (presumably dead).
► Several armed men scale a wall and run through a compound where they attack a man, beating him with a stick, below the frame, and throwing things around inside a dwelling. Many armed soldiers fire cannons into the walls around a city for many days and we see parts of the wall breaking. Many men on horseback approach others and seem threatening until they join forces to fight another larger force.
► A woman is shown with a bloody eye and mouth after a battle. A woman is punched in the face and falls back onto the ground unconscious. A man holds a gun to another man’s head, then lowers the gun and the man is taken away by soldiers. A man is shoved to the ground and onto the body of a soldier; one of the men shoving him puts his boot against the man’s back and forces him to lick blood from the dead man’s hand. A soldier tells a woman nursing an infant, “Give me some motherly love” as he approaches in a threatening manner (rape is implied).
► A timber coffin is covered with flowers and set ablaze as people grieve for the man inside. A young woman is told that her husband’s health has worsened and we see her sitting with him as he breathes heavily and eventually dies. A teen girl is shown holding a swaddled infant and we understand that the child died. A wounded woman is shown riding her horse into a body of water as voiceovers discuss the legend of what happened to the woman.
► A horse collapses throwing its riders (neither is injured) and we hear it wheezing as a man tells a woman that the horse’s leg is broken; she kills the animal with a gun (below the frame). Women practice fighting with swords, and they also practice with swords while blindfolded, and later with bows and arrows; women practice climbing walls on ropes and with ladders. A teenage girl is shown yelling during labor. A young girl plays with a bow and arrow.
► A woman yells at a man and blames him of authorizing massacres of Indian people, as well as rape, pillaging and burning. A man jokes about shooting a woman off her horse. A man and woman argue about going to war with the British. A man and a woman argue over the right of Britain to annex areas of India. A woman argues with her father. People discuss the possibility of a civil war. Men in a meeting room argue about “keeping the Indian people divided.” We hear that ammunition is smeared with pig fat in order to dishonor Muslims in India. There are discussions of the British overthrowing India’s rulers in the 1800s. A man talks about forces marching toward a city in India with the intent of overthrowing its queen and occupying it. There are many insulting references to Indian people and their customs. We hear about an outbreak of cholera. We hear that cannons have been sabotaged. A soldier writes to his mother, “I feel certain that I will be killed in the storm to come,” and a man sees the letter and yells at the younger man. There are many discussions of “bloodshed and death.” A young boy asks his mother, “Are we going to die?” while their city is bombarded by cannons. We hear that a woman’s father was murdered. A woman tells a man, “If you are captured, you will be hanged.” A woman beseeches other women that if she is captured, not to allow the enemy to “Tarnish my body.” We hear that the Mutiny of 1857 lasted just over 2 years. We hear that the East India Company was abolished after the 1857 Mutiny. We read that India won its independence from England in 1947.
► Women sit in a circle and wail after the death of a man and the man’s wife prepares to have her head shaved (according to custom); as a man with a razor approaches she refuses the shaving and tells all the women to leave her (they protest but leave). A man in a field hospital vomits into a pan and we see goo as he retches.

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi LANGUAGE 3

 – 6 mild obscenities, insulting references to Indian people and their traditions, name-calling (commoner, untouchable, coward, archaic, charade, fools, cruel invaders, heathen, jezebel, aggressive, fragile, daft, suicide, nonsense, fairy tale, vulgar natives, tragic, barbarians, filthy bastards, unbelievable, pathetic, treacherous little snake, these people, sneaky little bastards, coward, bully, harlot), exclamations (bloody weather, calm down), 2 religious exclamations (e.g. Good God, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi SUBSTANCE USE

 – Two men drink glasses of whiskey in a few scenes. A woman smokes from a hookah pipe (it’s not identified as to what she is smoking).

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – The East India Company, British rule, opium trade, mutiny, unleavened bread, customs, civilization, cholera, defiance, annexation, colonialism, patience, sabotage, bravery, classism, respect, trust, honor, gratitude, freedom, sacrifice, evil spirits, dignity, fear, superstitions, Christianity, zeal for profit.

The Warrior Queen of Jhansi MESSAGE

 – Violence leads only one way and life is impermanent. Listen to your fear and use it to defeat your enemies.