This movie was a very simplistic, black-or-white take on DV. I don't know the real story so my comments are based entirely on what was shown in the movie. In the movie Deepak is shown as a caring husband one moment and a violent abuser the next. No time or effort is spend in the movie to show the transformation from one to another. People don't act randomly that way. What was the root cause of change in Deepak? Generally when marriage break down to this extent it is usually due to both partners, rarely due to just one person. Also, do two wrongs make a right?? Why did she not leave her husband while all of the abuse was happening? Why not call cops after one incident (while he as sleeping drunk) or confess beating to the RN/Dr at the hospital? I mean shouldn't one attempt these before burning someone alive? Honestly, I cannot condone burning someone alive, no matter what, given that it was premeditated and caustic soda was added to the mix to "cook the meat". It is easy to sympathize with the character because she is played wonderfully by Ash, but I would sympathize with her if she acts with the ultra-vulnerable innocent puppy look like she does in the movie even if she kills the pope. Also, the Radha character was quite rude and annoying. All she did was shout out ridiculous and disgusting to Kiran's attorney and judge, like that will help their cause. She probably saw her brother-in-law in every abuser, justified or not. And the jailhouse bonding were all over dramatic. Melodrama should have no place in movie dealing with a delicate topic like this one. Other than Ash, this movie is not even worthy of one look...

this movie had a heap of potential...that wasn't met. the story in its self is a seller but its execution was pathetic. instead of feeling sorry for kiran and considering her actions revoulutionary i walked out thinking that this movie was promoting murder over telling someone e.g. police. i feel this may have had o do with the fact that ash as pretty as she is isn't capable of getting in the skin of a character and making you feel with the character. i walked out considering kiran a weak woman when she probably wasn't in reality. kiran was a Punjabi girl and she was going to be a lawyer, she was obviously educated and intelligent so why portray her as so backward ?? only one scene really portrayed the kind of person kiran was (the scene before he threw her down the stairs) she told him what she felt. the personality of that scene should have been carried through the entire movie...but it wasn't. 5/10 purely for the story & the little effort

There were two reasons why I had decided to catch this film, and they are the beautiful Aishwarya Rai and composer extraordinaire A. R. Rahman. Provoked is based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, whose autobiographical book "Circle of Light" forms the basis of this movie. However, its textbook delivery style resulted in a film that's quite plain, despite its powerful potential in examining domestic violence against women.Rai plays the protagonist Kiranjit, a Punjabi woman instructed by culture and social norms to be the dutiful wife to Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews), who whisks her off to London. Kiranjit doesn't know what she's in for as it's an arranged marriage, and soon enough the true colours of her spouse start to show - the drinking, the womanizing, and the verbal, physical, emotional abuses. For 10 years she tolerated and suffered, until one night she snapped and gave her husband his just desserts. We're talking about the law here, and so she gets sent to the slammer.Then on it's split down a few paths. Along one path, iIt's like Prison on Fire, where glimpses of the harsh realities of the world inside with criminals start to harden Kiranjit to fend for herself, along with the making of new friends and "sisters". On another path, the courtroom drama which was pivotal, given that it's a landmark case which debated upon the fine definition of provocation, somehow got delivered quite blandly, no doubt because attention was drawn toward the very British courtroom with its wigs and polite legal language. And finally, the path of melodrama and flashbacks, used ad nauseam here in telling the abuse that Kiranjit had to endure. I'm gonna be biased here to say that Aishwarya Rai's performance is probably the best thing in the movie. As in Mistress of Spice, those eyes can speak a thousand words with just a flicker, a movement, or a blink. And she can do unglam too, sans thick makeup and making prison garb fashionable. As an abused woman, you can't help but feel sorry for her, and very much root for her to get herself out of her plight, using whatever means possible. Nothing too breakthrough, but she's as effective as can be.Unfortunately, bad acting plagued most of the supporting cast. Naveen Andrews as the husband Deepak only managed to look snarling, but is never menacing enough, and the rest seemed to have been sleepwalking, in part being let down by the lack of meat in these roles, being in true one dimensional fashion. Only Miranda Richardson's fellow jailbird and cellmate Veronica Scott offered some balance in the acting department opposite Rai.Veteran director Jag Muhdhra seemed to have a bad outing trying to polish the film into the gem it should be, and certain scenes were badly edited that they seemed to be pasted side by side without much thought to gel them together smoothly. It seemed to have dwelled too much in the beginning, and felt hurried toward the end. It also lacked details of the rationale, and failed to pound deeper into the heart of the subject. Rather, what we got was a brief introduction and explanation of the topic, followed by a very quick, superficial resolution, leaving us wanting more. A. R. Rahman's score seemed to have disappeared into the background at times, though when it's on, you can always ensure a treat for the ears.Perhaps that's the point, of enticing the audience to pick up the book to read first hand the plight of someone being abused, and the challenges faced in being a mother from within a cell, battling innate customs and expectations to come out from within a shell and into the open, not only to try and save oneself, but to be a beacon of hope for many others in the same boat.Straight to the point, no frills storytelling, recommended for the curious and for those who want a launching point into a hot subject of abusive relationships.

The movie is based on a true story which was the first reason i saw this film. Aishwarya Rai has performed well in the role of Kiran. The story educates one of the atrocities that can happen to a woman and her fight to claim the justice that is initially denied to her cause she was ashamed to discuss the abuse that she suffered.The movie looks like a low budget movie and the screenplay or the camera-work may not fascinate you. The movie is based on facts and stays true to its original content. See the movie for its content and the message it wants to convey to the society.