Film: Provoked

Director: Jagmohan Mundhra

Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Miranda Richardson, Naveen Andrews

Rating: 3.5/5

Provoked is much more than a mere film, it is a person's life showcased on the silver screen. Does a critic then have a right to judge such an effort? But by virtue of the venture being showcased on celluloid and the lead role being essayed by Aishwarya Rai, it turns into a commercial film, and hence needs to be adjudged so.

Based on the life of Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai), a woman who sustained spousal (Naveen Andrews) abuse for 10 long years till one day when she decided she would suffer no more. Convicted of murdering her husband, Kiranjit was sentenced to life in prison, where she found her freedom and the strength to emerge a stronger woman. 

Meanwhile, outside the four walls of the prison, the fight for her cause took momentum thanks to the help of the Southhall black sisters, an NGO that supported the cause of  women who have suffered at the hands of their spouses. After three years in prison, Kiranjit was set free after the court passed a judgment in her favour. The story has been out there for years now, but for the first time, it has been told to a larger audience.

What is impressive about this film is the place in which it is set, England. Keeping in mind the location, the director does full justice not just to the story, but also the environment. The film is unbelievably English, with visible tones of blue, grey, black and yellow. Also, the English have a sense of mellow yet emotional stories to tell; Mundhra has very well understood the environment and shot the entire film based on this sensibility.

If you choose to look past the obvious, the film works on three levels. That of love and betrayal, an emergence of a stronger woman and thirdly, a yarn of right versus wrong. There is a sense of purity with which the film is told, which this sort of tale needed, and this particularly makes for great viewing.