The weird wild world of Hunterwali

Once upon a time, manga artist Katsuji Matsumoto (1904-86) made a cliche storm-filled spiritual prototype of what would become the story of Hunterwali, a Shōjo manga named the Mysterious Clover, in 1934. 

In 1935, a pair of late Raj period Indian brothers from an industrialist Parsi family, JBH and Homi Wadia, made world history with the first Bollywood action film featuring a female protagonist. That film was the first Hunterwali movie, featuring our Australian nation’s iconic Scottish-Australian Miss Badass, the Wadia brothers’ long serving collaborator Fearless Nadia. 

In 1937-38, a Hindi and Urdu pair called Chabukwali was released, albeit with two different actresses, a North Indian and a Pakistani, playing the titular characters. While the 1937 Chabukwali was directed by A.M. Biswas, the 1938 Pakistani Chabukwali was directed by little known film industry veteran A.M. Khan. 

Then in 1942-43, there was also the first Pistolwali movie, featuring Fearless Nadia herself. Its plot was generally similar to that of its South Indian Telugu remake from a few decades later, albeit a likely less violent one.

In 1943, the smash hit belatedly responded to the success of the first Pistolwali by spawning its own sequel called Hunterwali Ki Beti, but the resulting franchise became pretty much dormant until 1959. The third film under the Hunterwali name was likely a then-new, dolled up sequel when it was released on that year, unfortunately without much involvement from either one of the busy Wadia Brothers. 

A Hunterwali Ki Beti inspired competitor named Miss Hunterwali was released at the same time. It was the second one of the four films which would inspire a Pakistani filmic allegory for the importance of South Asian women’s rights. 

Another Hunterwali film, likely the fifth one, was not only made in 1972 by a South Indian director, but was also spoken originally in Telugu. Unlike the other three, it was set in a then contemporary time. Also unlike the other three, it is very violent and comes with a nuttier spinoff companion called the second Pistolwali. 

The Telugu Pistolwali itself was released in the same year. Unlike its source film, it was set in a once contemporary Wild West style town. Its true major star was an actress named Jyothi Lakshmi, an unkempt beauty who was also in Hunterwali ‘72. 

A more comedic take on the original Hunterwali, named Hunterwali ‘77, was made late in 1977 with a bigger budget. It featured a chubby Hunterwali riding her steed in a ton of awesome scenery. 

The first and only Hunterwali movie not made in India was released in 1988. Spoken in the standard Pakistani Punjabi, it was about a surviving sexual assault victim turning into a renegade to save herself from the lecherous offenders who defiled her. It is not just a story of a woman doing anti-heroine stuff to survive in a horrid workplace, it is also an allegory for South Asian women’s rights in general, regardless of class, ethnicity, caste, religion and skin colour. 

The first contemporary Hunterwali movie in about 26 years was released in 2014. Spoken in Bhojpuri, it has a fiercer and more fanservice friendly Hunterwali than any other incarnation. 

Nowadays, Hunterwali belongs to what’s colloquially called Wadia Productions, which is the estate of JBH Wadia’s late grandson Riyad Vinci Wadia.