Provoked is the story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who, after suffering 10 years of spousal abuse and degradation, is sentenced to life in prison after she sets her husband on fire while he slept. Set in London in 1989, the story has similarities to the famous Farrah Fawcett TV movie, The Burning Bed. While the story is not cinematically groundbreaking, the actual case helped redefine the legal term of “provocation” in the United Kingdom in cases of wife battering.
Under English criminal law, a person who intentionally kills as a result of “provocation,” will be convicted of manslaughter and not murder. The law's interpretation of what constitutes provocation, however, was very narrow, requiring a "sudden and temporary loss of self-control.” If there is a time delay between the provocation and the victim's response—as in Ahluwalia’s case where there was a two-hour delay from the most recent incident of abuse until her reaction--the law will tend to deny the defense to the woman who has been provoked.
Kiranjit Ahluwalia was eventually released from prison after the charge was changed from murder to manslaughter and she was credited with the three plus years she had already served. The film deals not just with the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband or the efforts of the Southhall Black Sisters to obtain justice for her, but the transformation she experienced in Mullwood Hall Prison where ironically she is freed from being trapped in a cycle of silent victim hood to growing strong and giving voice to her story.
Provoked is also somewhat groundbreaking in its release in India—a country currently in an uproar over a public kiss planted on Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty by actor Richard Gere. The film was originally given an A-rating (Adults only, or the equivalent of an R-rating in India) by the censors. The director decided to cut out the "four letter word" and the film was then given a U/A rating, equivalent to a PG-13. Ahluwalia traveled to back to her native India to promote the film’s release. She hopes the film will raise more awareness about the issue of abuse of women and said in an interview,
“The government should do something about this; they should educate women so that they don't suffer all this. Thousands of women suffer every year because of dowry, which is wrong. We are in the 21st century and if our women are suffering so much then this is very wrong.”
The movie, scheduled to be released on May 11th in New York and Los Angeles and limited national release on May 18th, stars the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai as Kirinjit and Lost hottie Naveen Andrews as her abusive husband Deepak. Strong supporting performances by the wonderful Miranda Richardson (The Crying Game) as Kirin’s cellmate Ronnie--also incarcerated for the murder of an abusive husband, Rebecca Pidgeon (The Unit) as the barrister who provide Kirin’s initial defense and a masterful Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter) who plays the Lord Edward Foster who pleads the case for Kirin’s appeal add to the film’s appeal.
Provoked was adapted from Ahluwalia’s autobiography “Circle of Light” by Carl Austin and Rahila Gupta and directed by Jag Mundhra. Unfortunately, while the story is not new and acts of abuse are far too prevalent all over the planet, Provoked ultimately is an uplifting saga with a strong message. As the character of Kirinjit Ahluwalia says in the movie following her release from prison,
“It is our responsibility as mothers to raise our sons to treat women with love and respect not violence and anger. Only then will the suffering end.”
