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Provoked
the
film
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Director:
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Jagmohan
Mundhra |
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Cast:
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Aishwarya
Rai, Naveen Andrews, Robbie Coltrane, Miranda
Richardson, Nandita Das, Rebecca Pidgeon, Nichola
Irons, Deborah Moore, Steve McFadden and Raji
James |
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| Unable
to bear the brutality and repeated rapes by her
alcoholic and abusive husband, Kiranjit Ahluwalia
(Aishwarya Rai), a battered Punjabi housewife and mother
of two in London, sets him on fire before
unintentionally killing him. |
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| Charged
with first-degree 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. |
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Moved
by her story, the cellmate asks her stepbrother,
Edward Foster (Robbie Coltrane), a highly
respected queen's counsel to file her appeal.
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Her case comes
to the notice of a group of south Asian social workers
running an organisation called Southall Black Sisters.
They
bring her plight to the attention of the media by
organising rallies to gather public support for her
freedom.
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She
is ultimately freed by the judicial system in a landmark
case called "Regina vs. Ahluwali", that
redefined the word 'provocation' in the case of a
battered woman.
She
was reunited with her children and was subsequently
given an award by the Prime Minister's wife for her
crusade against domestic violence.
Queen
of Bollywood, Miss Aishwarya Rai, stars in an intense
deglamourised role very similar to that in Choker Bali,
a film much appreciated by the UK audience.
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Provoked was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival
in April this year and was highly praise by the
international media.
Aishwarya
Rai was present with director Jag Mundhra to promote the
film through press conferences and parties.
In
June, the film opened the 2006 IIFA Film Festival in
Dubai. Aishwarya Rai flew down from her shooting schedule
for the day to attend the premiere.
The
film is said to be releasing very soon by EROS
International in the UK cinemas.
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