Provoked

It8217;s the way she says 8216;Punjabi8217;, making you think it is spelled as 8216;Pnjabbi8217;, which alerts you to the fact that Aishwarya Rai is trying very hard for authenticity.

It8217;s the way she says 8216;Punjabi8217;, making you think it is spelled as 8216;Pnjabbi8217;, which alerts you to the fact that Aishwarya Rai is trying very hard for authenticity. As Kiranjit Ahluwalia, she is all printed salwaar kameez, lace-edge dupattas, and blood red lipstick. The look is just right. So is the feel, for the most part: she brings to life a woman so provoked after ten years of continuous abuse and assault that she is propelled towards an unimaginable act.

Provoked is based on a true story which created ripples not just in Southhall, but back in Punjab where virginal, not-too-educated brides are still routinely shipped off to strangers Kiranjit8217;s husband is the friend of a sister-in-law8217;s relative who earn in pounds. The changa munda Naveen Andrews turns out to be a monster, who beats and humiliates and rapes his wife, without caring a fig about what his mother and two kids think of him.

The trouble with Jag Mundhra8217;s film is a factor which plagues all his movies: at some point they stop being films, and turn into theatre. Aishwarya8217;s stay in prison where she meets her bleeding hearts cellmate

Miranda Richardson, who conveniently happens to have a top barrister/solicitor for a brother Robbie Coltrane, is pure nautanki. All those yard scenes where Ms-I8217;m-not-scared-of-anyone-Miranda stands up for the timid Asian woman, in the face of the mandatory obese white woman with bad teeth, and the shiny-skinned sympathetic black woman with sad eyes, are cringe-making. So are the scenes when a madeover Kiran well-cut pants, and jacket, and swish hair-cut goes to her hearing: the inmates, soul sistahs all, cheer her on, like they were at a football match.

And the trouble with having Aishwarya in the lead is also evident soon enough: she is the only well-rounded character, everyone else is kept sketchily supportive, including Nandita Das8217;s spirited Southall social worker, who is instrumental in getting Kiran8217;s case she is convicted of first degree murder re-opened. It would have been nice to see a little more of Naveen Andrews8212;why does a man who starts off being so loving to his beautiful wife go down that pat8212;but he remains a cipher, too.

Provoked is meant, clearly, to tell us that despite her rep, Aish can do it. And she pulls it off, almost. In parts she is back to being Aish: she can8217;t help it, especially when she appears in those western outfits, and cleaned-up English diction. But most of the time, she is Kiranjit. And for her, like the woman whose life the movie is based on, it is a victory.