People are voting emotionally.

One of my all time favorites.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Since it was based on a true story (I remember the case in the media) I really thought that the movie would have been really great. The subject matter had so much potential. Maybe it was the direction of the movie but I did not get the severity of the attacks by the husband to warrant the wife's actions. They also could have delved a little more into both the husband's the wife's character. I'm not really familiar with Aishwarya Rai's work but we've all seen Naveen Andrews in Lost and other works and I know that he is a good actor but I don't think his talents were utilized well. More could have definitely been done with this movie.

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...

I think the writer of this review missed the point.Don't believe this was a male-bashing story at all, or one which says it's OK to oxidize your "better" half.One of the last lines in the movie, and I quote: "Ofcourse, there never was a retrial. The courts could never find a woman who had burnt her husband to death to be innocent. So on September 25th, 1992 - they reduced her sentence to manslaughter and accepted her 3 years 4 months that she'd spent in jail as the full term." I guess this summarizes my argument against this review. No, Kiranjeet was not innocent. She lost her reason after 10 years of rape, abuse- physical and emotional - and snapped one night.As to whether her action was "justified" - will again quote from the movie: "For a woman who suffered violence and abuse of the highest order for 10 long years and feared not only for her own life, but the life of her little children - I myself could not, would not presume to know what reasonable would be for such a woman".The real issue here is that some men need to learn to treat women with honor. Though I will grant there were some real cheesy moments of women-to-women bonding in the prison - don't know how much of that is real.I am a punjabi male and found this movie perfectly fine - there is no negative bias against men - unless of course, you're one of those men who think it's a good idea to iron your spouse just for the kicks. A movie well done.

I saw Provoked at a packed screening at the Tongues on Fire Film Festival in Mid-March. I must say I was pleasantly surprised how good both Ms. Rai and the film were. This may in no small way be due to the Director Jag Mundhra who should be pleased with the finished film.Watching the film it kinda struck me that its the kind of film that seems to have gone out of fashion. An intelligent entertaining (that might be the incorrect word in view of the subject matter) issue film that doesn't patronise its audience. This is easily Aishwarya Rai best Western/English Language film to date and could mark the start of an interesting phase in her career. Cast, to my mind against type, she plays Kiranjit Ahluwalia a battered Housewife who after years of Physical, Mental & Sexual abuse kills her husband by setting fire to him while he sleeps. Kiranjit would later be jailed for life for murder and then successfully appeal the decision and in doing so change English Criminal Law.I must say that Aishwarya really did show there's more to her than her looks. If you've seen her other English Languauge films this is a complete step up performance wise. Especially, when you ask yourself who would you get to play an Indian Battered wife, I'm sure like me you wouldn't have cast Ms. Rai in a Million years, based on seeing "Mistress of Spices" & "Bride and Prejudice" respectively.Aishwarya gives a really good performance, she managing to convey the fact that she (Kiranjit) is supposed to be a good wife & mother so if her husband abuses her if must be her fault. But Ms. Rai is really at her best when she has killed her husband and is in something of a daze with the whole enormity of the situation. She really manages to have you believing this is how the real Kiranjit acted. An important subject handled intelligently, I can't recommend this film highly enough.