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PROVOKED
Directed by Jag Mundhra.
Written by: Carl Austin & Rahila Gupta, based on the book Circle of Light by Kiranjit Ahluwalia & Rahila Gupta.
Produced by: Sunanda Murali Manohar Director of Photography: Madhu Ambat.
Edited by: Mundhra & Sanjeev Mirajkar .
Released by: Eros International.
Language: English & Punjabi with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: India/UK. 111 min. Not Rated.
With: Aishwarya Rai, Miranda Richardson, Naveen Andrews, Robbie Coltrane, Rebecca Pidgeon & Nandita Das.

Provoked, the true story of a woman convicted for murdering her abusive husband, is the type of film with noble intentions, which sadly do not translate into a good movie. Beginning in 1989 London, an Indian immigrant, Kiranjit Ahluwalia, played by Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai, sets her husband on fire while he sleeps, á la The Burning Bed, after years of abuse. Rai is one of the most stunning women on the planet, with incredible blue eyes the size of orbs, yet they cannot redeem a bad script and even worse directing. Using her best and most reliable asset, she spends the entire first third of the movie barely speaking in a stiff daze, continuously looking like she is on the verge of tears; her wooden demeanor gets old really fast.

The torture that Kiranjit endured by her drunkard husband (Naveen Andrews from TV’s Lost) is told through flashbacks. Cultural customs work against her – she is too ashamed to testify on her own behalf – and she is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. By law, the judge couldn’t allow the jury consider her previous abuse or state of mind. Her cellmate, Ronnie (Miranda Richardson, whose acting is way above the rest of the cast), is another abused woman convicted of murdering her husband. She takes Kiranjit under her wing, protects her, and helps her on her journey from victim to a woman who can stand on her own two feet.

A local non-profit group that supports abused women takes up Kiranjit’s cause, led by the passionate Radha (Nandita Das). Fortunately for Kiranjit, Ronnie convinces her lawyer-brother to argue the appeal pro bono, and Radha generates a lot of publicity, getting the public to support Kiranjit’s case. Her appeal is granted, and she is released with time served. As a consequence, abused women across Great Britain could use provocation as a defense for turning on their abuser.

Because the topic has the potential to be quite compelling, it is even sadder that Provoked does not rise above sappy melodrama. Some of the scenes are even laughable – when Kiranjit is leaving jail to go to her appeal, all the women begin applauding for her, even the guards. Though the film has all these problems and more, it does not take away from the fact that a woman who could barely speak English was able to change the law for all British women. I only wish the film had lived up to Kiranjit’s bravery.

Melissa Silverstein, a writer on women & popular culture and online editor for The Women's Media Center
May 11, 2007