Provoked

Synopsis

Domestic violence drama based on a true story. Unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes by her alcoholic husband, battered Punjabi housewife and mother of two Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai) sets fire to her abusive husband and kills him unintentionally. Charged with murder, she is sentenced to life imprisonment where she befriends her cellmate, a wealthy white woman named Veronica Scott (Miranda Richardson), from whom she learns English. Her cellmate is so moved by her story that she asks her step-brother, Edward Foster (Robbie Coltrane), a highly-respected QC, to file her appeal. Her case comes to the notice of a South Asian social worker running an under-funded organisation called the Southall Black Sisters. They bring her plight to the attention of the media by organising rallies to gather public support for her freedom. The film had its international premier at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.