‘Provoked’ fails to meet the provoked curiosity

Provoked

Director- Jagmohan Mundhra

Producer- Sunanda Murali Manohar

Star cast- Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Robbie Coltrane, Miranda Richardson, Nandita Das, Rebecca Pidgeon, Steve Mcfadden, Nicholas Irons, Raji James and Deborah Moore.

As soon as trailers started showing on the small screen, ‘Provoked’ provoked a lot of interest and curiosity among the people.

Released just a week ago, it had many takers and this was simply because of the reason that it was based on a true story- the story of Kiranjit Alhuwalia and how she managed to live with an abusive husband for 10 years. How she tolerated the pain and disgrace and the concluding decision she made to teach her husband a lesson by deciding to burn his legs. But things went dreadfully incorrect and her husband died in the bargain.

Director Jagmohan Mundhra, although an ace director, did not show his ability and failed to reach the expectations people had vested upon the film…it is not because of the story line, but the cast of ‘Provoked’ did not do justice with their respective roles.

Naveen Andrews, who played Deepak Alhuwalia, the psychopath husband is first rate and there is no doubt about his talent. He has successfully played the role of what Deepak was- his foul language, terrible temper and excessive use of hands at the drop of a hat.

Aishwarya Rai, on the other hand is found wanting or ‘not existing’. Had the director maneuvered her to be powerful, the movie would have got the required momentum. Nandita Das, surprisingly, did not act as well as her previous performances and her role was not convincing.

Apart from this, the director has proved himself first grade and put in a lot of energy by making the prison scenes and the inmates look as real as possible.

If the film will be liked, it will because the director has sent a very strong message to the women, especially those women who live under the thumb of their husbands, but bear the pains silently. If this movie can stir those women to get out of their ‘prison’ and provoke them into standing up for what is right, then Mundhra would have had his bouquets.

The movie surely is a tribute to the guts of Kiranjit Alhuwalia. She stands as a role model to most women, not because she killed her husband, which was just by chance, but for the way she left no stones unturned to keep her marriage alive.