Ex-bandit swaps guns for greasepaint

New Delhi: A reformed woman bandit in India has cast aside her guns to star in a Bollywood film which will recount her life of murder and robbery in the country's parched northern badlands.

Kidnapped by robbers at the age of 13, Seema Parihar struck fear among villagers living in the barren wastelands of India's Uttar Pradesh state, where she looted, murdered and abducted people until 2000 when she finally surrendered to police.

Now, the 35-year-old former bandit who is out on bail accused of around 30 cases of murder, robbery and kidnapping says she wants the world to know her story.

"When I was with the gangsters, I could shoot at anybody I wanted to. But people have to choose what they want from life," Parihar told Reuters. "Right now I want a better life, not guns, bullets and bloodshed."

The shooting of Wounded, directed by Bollywood filmmaker Krishna Mishra, has ended and the movie is slated for release later this year.

Bollywood, the world's largest film industry by volume and ticket sales, has a long tradition of producing bandit tales, with most of their plots revolving around injustice and revenge.

The most acclaimed bandit film is director Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen which portrayed the life of Phoolan Devi, a feared bandit-turned-politician who was murdered in 2001.

But Mishra says his film is the first of its kind. "There have been films about the lives of the different dacoits [bandits] or about dacoits, so I wanted to make a different kind of film involving real dacoits and Seema's life inspired me," Mishra told Reuters.

In India, bandits are referred to as dacoits, derived from a Hindi word for robber.

Mishra said it was tough getting his cast with together, with Parihar in the lead role, as the actor had to be first bailed out of jail.

"Her [Parihar's] acting is good," Mishra told Reuters. "You don't expect a dacoit who spent her years holding guns to stand in front of the camera like a gorgeous heroine."

The stern-looking, athletic bandit says she is very excited about her new acting career in India's glamorous film industry.

"Life just seems so normal and I'm glad that I'm acting in this movie which is based on my life, [especially] all that is untold," said Parihar, who is facing charges for crimes which could put her behind bars for life.