Provoked: A True Story (2007)

Simply A Masterpiece

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Disapointment

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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.

The people behind this movie are the ones who should have been set on fire. It's that bad.The (they claim it's all true) story of an Asian woman in Britain who set her husband on fire because he treated her badly. She eventually becomes a cause celebre because of the incident.The movie itself is full of melodrama, from over acting to cheesy music, tear-jerking scenes of women bonding in prison, it's a real soap opera. There isn't anything original here, this was all done during the 80's with the "burning bed" movie. It's so one sided that any Asian male who buys into it is probably sleeping out in the garage, in a locked car, after carefully hiding the gasoline can. There is no attempt at all to be objective, or to point out that setting someone on fire isn't a good solution to your marital difficulties.The problem here is the message: it's OK to set your spouse on fire if they don't treat you well. Never mind the fact that you could just leave, or turn him in to the police, or a hundred other options. This film would have you believe that it's not only OK to set him on fire, it's your moral obligation and you will be a heroine to women everywhere if you do so.Even if you think it's a good idea to initiate spontaneous combustion of your spouse, and I grant that there may be some who could benefit from that, this movie isn't realistic at all. I'm not reaching for realism in my entertainment, but when you claim it's a true story - try for some truth. Only die hard haters of the male gender could enjoy this, and possibly not all of those. If you have any objectivity at all you'll finish by hating this movie. If you enjoy decent movies, you'll finish by hating this one. And if you have any regard for the opposite gender whatsoever, you'll hate this movie.