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As a girl, Kiranjit (Aishwarya Rai) dreamed of growing up and getting an education. But when the young Punjabi woman left her home to marry Londoner Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews), she left those dreams behind. As Deepak’s wife, Kiranjit was little more than a household servant, forced to stay home and raise their two sons on whatever money her husband would give her, while he repeatedly abused her and cheated on her. She continued to suffer the abuse and humiliation until one night, when Kiranjit set her husband on fire while he slept.
Since her retaliation took place more than two hours after Deepak had last beaten her, Kiranjit couldn’t claim self-defense. So once Deepak succumbed to his injuries, Kiranjit was put on trial for premeditated murder—since, according to the law, she should have had more than enough time to calm down after his attack.
Based on Kiranjit Ahluwalia’s autobiography, Circle of Light, Provoked is the true story of both Kiranjit’s legal struggle and her personal struggle. Humiliated by her husband’s abuse and afraid for her life and the lives of her children, Kiranjit finally finds freedom behind bars. And she finds strength through her new friends—her fellow inmates. With the help of her cellmate, Ronnie (Miranda Richardson), and a non-profit organization that aids battered women, Kiranjit begins to fight for a ground-breaking appeal.
Provoked isn’t exactly high on production value. In fact, it often feels more like a made-for-TV movie than a feature film—complete with the occasional overacting. But I’m sure even the filmmakers would tell you that their main goal wasn’t to win awards for technical merit. The goal was to tell the story—and get the message across. In that, they succeed—to some extent. The message that does come through is thanks in no small part to a remarkable performance by Aishwarya Rai. The popular Bollywood actress can speak volumes with her beautifully expressive eyes alone—and she does an excellent job of making viewers understand her character’s story. In fact, she does the job even when the story falls short.
Though the film does show parts of Kiranjit’s past through flashbacks, the story isn’t as strong as it could have been. Viewers do get to understand part of the pain and humiliation that she was forced to endure, but the film focuses more on the court case and her time in jail instead of taking the time to build her story and her character. Whether the setup was reduced to save Ahluwalia from having to relive it—or to shy away from becoming just another sensationalized movie about spousal abuse—it did lessen the story’s potency somewhat.
Provoked isn’t necessarily a film that audiences will watch for fun. It’s a movie with a message—and though the film’s quality might not be the highest, its message is important. And despite some weaknesses in the story, Aishwarya Rai does a wonderful job of getting that message across.
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