Provoked : A True Story (2006) 6/10

Starring : Aishwarya Rai, Miranda Richardson, Naveen Andrews, Nandita Das, Rebecca Pidgeon, Nicholas Irons, Robbie Coltrane
Director : Jag Mundhra
Running Time : 109 mins

After being married to her abusive British husband Deepak (Andrews), Punjabi born Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Rai) finally decides to take matters into her own hands and sets her husband on fire out of fear for the safety of not only herself but her two children. When Deepak dies of his injuries, Kiranjit is tried for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, a sentencing she is convinced to fight against.

This is a pretty average movie portraying spousal abuse, and could have been considerably better if the performances weren’t so hammy. Andrews starts to get a little over the top towards the end of the movie, and Rai isn’t very convincing as the put-upon wife – though this may be intentional as her characters is meant to be very submissive. Worth watching just to look out for how many actors from EastEnders you can spot, but there are better efforts out there.

You’ll like this if you liked : Enough