Perception is truth?. Review on Provoked

I know its kiran ahluwalias true story and everyones waiting for it so dont go to watch it with very high expectations as you will be disappointed like me

we have been misled on this path of a true story too often but the movie and script have to be origonal to keep you absorbed, this is too cliched despite the presence of the beautiful and talented, soon to be mrs ashwariya rai, who plays thepunjabi housewife who is regularly battered and abused till she can take it no more and does the ultimate crime of burning her husband alive after suffering for 10 years and having 2 sons together.

this is all true, as is the rest of the story  but I believe the women[nandita das plays the social worker ] involved in rescuing her from the english prison where she spent 3 years before being reunited with her kids have already accused the director jug mundra of taking too many cinematic liberties with the truth and his insensitive portayal is raising controversy in UK already, which will serve the movie as free publicity always does in the end .

miss ashwariya plays the long suffering wife and she is adequate but not as good as raincoat or choker bali, we have seen her give better performances in devdas and taal, she needs a better director and script to rescue her career as does naveen andrews who plays mr ahluwalia who is roasted by his wife for being a woman basher and alcoholic, i wonder why he didnt see a psychiatrist as medical care is free in UK, but at times I sympathised with him too, when you tell your wife to go dance with your best friend on your honeymoon you dont actually mean it, but I think some women dont understand us men as we dont appreciate their psyche as well .

there are some good sequences though but for my taste the movie was too melodramatic despite having excellent cinematography and a great musical score by ar.rahman, the slickness cant hide the flaws in the script and execution .

a lot is expected from this movie but in my humble opinion you go watch it and make up your own  mind whether the true story has been depicted origonally or not, I felt like I had seen it all before and im not talking of hollywood movies but bollywood itself .

well it is being depicted as a great feminist venture and yes miranda richardson as the tough talking cell mate who is sympathetic to kiran and the two english lawyers and the court scenes are impressive as is the last speech by miss rai [a bit naive and over the top], but its all been beaten to death in the past as well, this is a movie dripping with nobility and self-pity to the point it makes you almost immune to itself

so I wonder how the box office is going to react to it in india particularly as it is mostly in english or punjabi, but its definitely worth a look once at least .

my best wishes to miss rai on her forthcoming wedding and is this the right time to release this disatrous depiction of an indian marriage gone completely wrong, well thats a question only the distributors can answer as they probably want to cash in on the free publicity the events going to bring to their investment

battered woman phenomenoa is existent in every culture and society but its just as much dependent on an  individuals desire to inflict it as much as to suffer as well, i wonder what was the other side of the picture as this is totally one sided and dwells on the accounts of miss kiran as the victim, as for burning even a dog or cat I find the idea abhorrent and to actually kill someone who is the father of your 2 sons is slightly unpalatable but truth is stranger then fiction as they say and it applies here very appropriately .

i hope miss rai can find someone better to make her into an icon next time as jug mundra needs to join a film academy for some much desired lessons in how to direct and interpret a script or he can watch mother india for inspiration as well .

thanks for reading and maybe my views are biased being a male myself,

so I do recommend you see it for yourself, ive given it one extra star as a wedding gift to miss rai .lol

cheers