Wounded, the Bollywood extravaganza being shot in the Chambal ravines, one of the most lawless regions in India, is no ordinary film. And neither is its heroine, Seema Parihar, an ordinary actress.

Until last month, Parihar was rotting in Uttar Pradesh's high security Etawah jail for allegedly gunning down 70 people, kidnapping 200 for ransom, and committing 30 armed robberies during her 10-year reign in the Chambal region straddling Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in central India.

Now the notorious woman bandit - who figured on India's most-wanted list and carried a reward of 500,000 rupees (HK$85,500) on her head - is playing herself in the film award-winning director Krishna Mishra is making of her life.

The movie's powerful script captures the saga of Parihar's eventful life: kidnapped and raped by a 54-year-old bandit when she was only 12, she was inducted into the gang as his mistress. When police killed her ageing lover, she was repeatedly raped by his lieutenants before she engineered a coup and took charge of the gang.

She says to avenge her humiliation, she let loose a reign of terror. She changed lovers frequently, and gave birth to a boy while on the run before finally turning herself in.

'It's the first time in the history of cinema that an outlaw is starring as herself in a movie,' said Mishra, who fought a legal battle to get Parihar temporarily out of jail to act in his film, scheduled for release by October.

Already, comparisons are being drawn with Bandit Queen, the highly acclaimed film made in 1994 about another woman outlaw, Phoolan Devi, which made her a cause celebre around the world. Devi entered politics, and was elected twice to India's national parliament before she was mysteriously gunned down in 2001.

Parihar, who led one of Chambal's most dreaded gangs, surrendered to the police four years ago. Of the 29 criminal cases against her, 15 were dropped because witnesses turned hostile. And when Mishra met her in jail last year to research her life story, she still had many years left to serve.

But she stumped him by insisting she'd co-operate and give permission for the production only if she was allowed to play herself.

'The pre-condition stunned me. My producers agreed but the judge [trying her] proved a hard nut to crack,' he said.

The judge eventually relented after the provincial administration - at Mishra's prodding - gave the go-ahead.

Finally, on May 7, Parihar was released for a specific period of two months to shoot the film. And to ensure she didn't vanish into thin air, the judge ordered a posse of 20 police to guard her round the clock until she returns to jail next month. But their presence on set doesn't seem to faze her.

'She bravely faced police bullets when she was a fugitive from the law. Now, she is facing the camera with equal ease and poise,' said Mishra after filming Parihar whistling tunes from a Bollywood movie while cleaning her gun in a hideout.

'Sometimes, I still can't believe that I'm acting in a film which will be watched by millions of people across the world,' said Parihar, who had to undergo a crash course in acting. 'I feel liberated. I feel thrilled that I am playing myself in a film.'

The bandit, who is known for her shooting skills, is fond of good clothes and was known to wear costly perfumes and lipstick while on the run from the police.

But the emotional scars inflicted by sexual abuse at such a young age have not healed. Oblivious to the presence of technicians and journalists, Parihar broke down and cried as she watched the scene in which child actor Aditi Pandey (who plays the 12-year-old Seema in the film) emerged from a hut where she was raped by her 54-year-old abductor.

'I can never forget my childhood ordeal. The rape still haunts me. Sometimes, I wake up at night in a cold sweat,' she said, wiping away her tears.

Not surprisingly, many see her as a victim rather than an outlaw, and are demanding she be granted amnesty instead of being sent back to jail. Under Indian laws, the government is empowered to withdraw charges and set free any prisoner. A statement by Uttar Pradesh's chief minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, that Parihar's pending cases would be reviewed, is fuelling rumours of her imminent release.

Anil Grover, film critic of Calcutta's The Telegraph newspaper, said that, like Devi, Parihar is destined to find international recognition once Wounded is released. He said Bandit Queen set its director Shekhar Kapur on the road to fame.

'Kapur went on to direct Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett which got an Oscar nomination. Maybe Mishra will have similar success with his bandit queen.'