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Provoked

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Provoked (2007)

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Reviews Counted:13

Fresh:2

Rotten:11

Average Rating:4.2/10

Consensus: Provoked's story is worth telling, but the hammy dialogue and heavy-handed direction doesn't give it the refined treatment it deserves.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:May 11, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: "Provoked" is the true story of a battered wife who fought back, first against her husband and then against the system. Full of optimism and affection, newlywed Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya... "Provoked" is the true story of a battered wife who fought back, first against her husband and then against the system. Full of optimism and affection, newlywed Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai) arrives at the doorstep of her new home and life with husband Deepak (Naveen Andrews). She would continue her law studies as her family had promised and the couple would start a family. The future offered only pain.The drunken Deepak beats her for the first time and shows remorse. He beats her again. It gets easier. After 10 years of violence, a dazed Kiranjit can take no more. She resorts to a desperate act that kills Deepak. She is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Incarceration tests the outwardly meek Kiranjit’s toughness at every turn, but the mother of two has suffered worse at home. She develops an ally in the mischievous Ronnie (Miranda Richardson), who also doled out the ultimate retribution to her abusive spouse. While Kiranjit acclimates to life behind bars, Radha (Nandita Das), an activist with the Southall Black Sisters, glimpses a tabloid headline about her case and springs into action. A barrister (Rebecca Pidgeon) with limited resources cannot make any headway, igniting greater determination in Radha, who rallies public opinion. Ronnie is denied parole but she has a secret weapon on the outside to help Kiranjit: Ronnie’s estranged brother-in-law Lord Foster (Robbie Coltrane), an influential legal eagle. Kiranjit’s appeal gains momentum when Radha persuades a cop to change his knowingly false testimony that Kiranjit was in her right mind the night of the killing. Arguing passionately before the high court, Lord Foster moves the judge to change the fate of many battered women forever. --© Official site [More]

Starring: Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Rebecca Pidgeon

Starring: Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Rebecca Pidgeon, Robbie Coltrane, Nicholas Irons, Nandita Das

Director: Jag Mundhra

Director: Jag Mundhra
Screenwriter: Jag Mundhra
Producer: Sunanda Murali Mahohar
Composer: A.R. Rahman
Studio: Eros Entertainment

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 28, 2007

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Reviews for Provoked

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1 - 13 (sorted by date)
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The real-life heroes in this story deserve better than a formulaic, poorly shot melodrama.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
05/21/07
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The script is melodramatic, and Rai's lead performance is thin stuff.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
05/18/07
Walter V. Addiego
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
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[Director] Mundhra can't control the expansiveness of the melodrama or focus on the terseness of realism. Every character in Provoked, from victims to tyrants, Indian to English, loud to quiet, ends up as a grossly exaggerated comic creation.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
05/18/07
Kamal Al-Solaylee
Kamal Al-Solaylee
Globe and Mail
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Provoked rarely ducks below its glossy surface.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
05/18/07
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The true-crime drama Provoked has everything to offer except a cinematic point of view and a knack for depicting human beings under duress. Those are major drawbacks.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
05/17/07
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unfortunately, Provoked possesses the tinny production values and schmaltzy music of a prime-time special, despite its ensemble of terrific actors.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/17/07
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Jag Mundhra doesn't do enough to clarify that killing, however horrible the man, really isn't okay, even for beautiful women.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
05/16/07
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In keeping its inflammatory subject matter at arm’s length, Provoked does exactly the same to its audience.

comment Comment
05/14/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Jag Mundhra expends so much energy and screen time to sway us to take Kiranjit's side -- really, we're on her side, we're on her side -- that he doesn't have much left over for anything else.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/11/07
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A clueless [director] Mundhra tackles the subject with a heavy hand and a contrived script. The result is a daytime soap mixed with a second-rate women-behind-bars flick.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
05/11/07
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
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Rai's acting is frustratingly passive in Provoked, and the script is laced with prison and courtroom clichés. But the movie gets most of the facts straight and the flashbacks to the wife's abuse are harrowing.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
05/11/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Provoked is a feminist homily of the shrillest order.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
05/08/07
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Village Voice
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For viewers prepared to go with the flow, it works at a gut, movie-movie level.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/05/07
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety
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