1. Plot

2. Cast

3. Release

4. Reception

5. Box office

6. Music

7. References

8. External links

Provoked is a 2006 British biographical drama film, directed by Jag Mundhra. It stars Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Robbie Coltrane, Nandita Das and Steve McFadden. The film is loosely based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who killed her abusive husband.

Cinematography for the film was handled by Madhu Ambat. The film's score and soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman, and the theme song for the film, Alive, was composed by Rahman and sung by Karen David, who has a small cameo in the film. Shot in London, the film was released theatrically in April 2007.

Plot

Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai), a Punjabi woman, marries Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews) in an arranged marriage and moves to Southall, UK with him to be closer to his family. Initially he seems caring and affectionate towards her but soon enough the true colors of her husband begin to show as Deepak gradually reveals a darker, threatening, and even sociopathic side of himself. After enduring ten years of abuse and having two children with him, Kiranjit, unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes at the hands of her husband any longer, sets fire to his feet while he is sleeping, unintentionally killing him. Charged with murder, her case comes to the notice of a group of South Asian social workers running an under funded organization called the Southall Black Sisters.

Kiranjit is sentenced to life imprisonment with possibility of parole in 12 years. She befriends her cellmate, a White woman named Veronica Scott (Miranda Richardson), who teaches her English. Veronica is also friends with several girls in the prison and stands up for Kiranjit against the local prison bully, Doreen (Lorraine Bruce). Veronica enlists her brother, Edward Foster (Robbie Coltrane), a highly respected Queen's Counsel, to aide in Kiranjit's appeal. Edward, in turn, realizes Kiranjit's importance to his sister and the importance of her case. His sister's request has additional meaning given that Veronica would not let him help her with her own appeal due to their on off relationship since childhood.

Before Kiranjit's appeal hearing the Southall Black Sisters bring her plight to the attention of the media by organizing rallies to gather public support for her freedom. She is ultimately freed by the judicial system in a landmark case called R v Ahluwalia, redefining provocation in cases of battered women in the UK.

Cast

• Aishwarya Rai as Kiranjeet Ahluwalia
• Miranda Richardson as Veronica Scott
• Robbie Coltrane as Edward Foster
• Naveen Andrews as Deepak Ahluwalia
• Ray Panthaki as Ravi
• Nandita Das as Radha Dalal
• Raji James as Anil
• Karen David as Asha
• Claire Louise Amias as Young Nurse
• Lorraine Bruce as Doreen
• Maxine Finch as Lula
• Nicholas Irons as PC O'Connell
• Wendy Albiston as Guard Miller
• Judith Jacob as Guard Taylor
• Deborah Moore as Jackie
• Guy Siner as Prosecutor
• Rebecca Pidgeon as Miriam Taylor, Defence lawyer
• Steve McFadden as DS Ron Meyers
• Shaheen Khan as Jamila
• Rahul Nath as Doctor

Release

This film was screened in the Marché du Film Cannes Film Market during the Cannes Film Festival in April 2006. Aishwarya Rai was present with director Jag Mundhra to promote the film through press conferences and parties. In June, the film opened the 2006 International Indian Film Academy Film Festival in Dubai. The screening was attended by Bollywood personalities including Amitabh Bachan and Shabana Azmi, as well as by international media.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 29 percent.^[2] View London gave a two stars out of five said "Provoked is just about worth seeing for its important subject matter and for Aishwarya Rai's performance but it's a real struggle at times, due to the astonishingly inept direction."{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} BBC gave three stars said, "Provoked avoids sentimentality and illustrates how one woman's bravery helped fuel a nationwide crusade and irrevocably altered British laws on domestic violence".^[3] Derek Elley from Variety stated "With Rai dignified in a largely reactive role, it's the playing by thesps like Richardson and Das, both excellent, that broadens the pic's emotional palette. Main weakness is that, in the flashbacks, Deepak's role has little backgrounding, and his violent outbursts are given no psychological underpinnings. Picture is more a quality meller, with clearly defined heroes and villains, than a slice of social realism. But for viewers prepared to go with the flow, it works at a gut, movie-movie level".^[4] The Times which gave a three stars describes "The key to the picture is its resonant message: everyone should see it to be reminded that domestic violence will never be acceptable, and that the law will now not tolerate it. Mundra thankfully gets Aishwarya Rai to drop her annoying Bollywood mannerisms and surrounds her with sturdy, mainly British, supporting actors. The result is that the actress finally delivers a performance which is not only moving but worthy of the fiery material".^[5] UK Channel Film4 rated four stars gave a verdict "A bold story, told with sensitivity and compassion".^[6]

After seeing the film, Patel is said to have told the Observer newspaper "I cringe a bit because I was so closely involved. Sometimes I think people should rise to the challenge of reflecting real life better. My view is that the reality is far more interesting."^[13]

Rahila Gupta, who co-wrote Circle of Light and the script, stated: "It's a shame that film is an artistic form in which you have to make a fair amount of compromises to make it happen." She criticised the film's characterisation as "one dimensional", and the portrayal of Kiranjit Ahluwalia's husband as an alcoholic.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

In the film Kiranjit Ahluwalia is portrayed as a middle class homemaker instead of a factory worker as she was in reality, Pragna Patel and Rahila Gupta's characters are merged to create one person, played by the Indian actress Nandita Das, and Americanized legal terminology rather than the actual British. The director Jagmohan "Jag" Mundhra in his defense said "Even if you tell a true story, a true story is never really a true story. How do you define the truth? None of us were really there and obviously the recollections of people who were there have changed now. Ultimately I do have to tell an engaging story. If I can't tell an engaging story no matter what cause is at stake, nobody will see it."^[13]

Box office

The film fared well at the UK BoxOffice,thus turning out to be a success.^[14][15]

Music

The score and the theme song of the film were composed by Academy Award winner Indian composer A. R. Rahman. The theme song, Alive was composed by Rahman, and written and performed by Karen David. The other tracks were done by Karen David. According to her blog, these songs were co-written with Rahman,^[16] however Rahman has officially confirmed that he has done only a single track for the film. Another version of the song Alive was recorded by Shreya Ghoshal but was not featured in the movie or officially released. The Hindi Version of 'Alive' was named 'Zindagi and was written by Mayur Puri.

References

External links

• {{IMDb title|id=0458072|title=Provoked}}

• Anjirebus
• Anjirebus-e Bala
• Anjirebus-e Sofla
• Anjireh
• Anjireh, Hamadan
• Anjireh, Hormozgan
• Anjireh, Ilam
• Anjireh, Kavar
• Anjireh Khafrak
• Anjireh, Khatam
• Anjireh, Khuzestan
• Anjireh, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad
• Anjireh, Marvdasht
• Anjireh, Rostam
• Anjireh, Shiraz
• Anjireh Vatisheh Kand
• Anjireh, Yazd
• Anjireh-ye Bala
• Anjireh-ye Ban Avareh
• Anjireh-ye Gowkhast
• Anjireh-ye Khafrak
• Anjireh-ye Now
• Anjireh-ye Paeen
• Anjireh-ye Pain
• Anjireh-ye Pa'in