PROVOKED: A TRUE STORY

Year: 2006
USA & UK: Eros International
Cast: Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrew, Robbie Coltrane, Miranda Richardson, Nandita Das, Rebecca Pidgeon, Nichola Irons, Deborah Moore, Steve McFadden, Raji Jame, Shaheen Khan
Director: Jag Mundhra
Countries: UK / India
USA & UK: 113 mins
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language, once very strong, and violence
USA Release Date: 11 May 2007 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 6 April 2007 (Limited Release)
UK Distributor

Synopsis

Based on a true story, PROVOKED follows the harrowing life of a Punjabi London housewife, Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai), who in the face of repeated physical abuse from her alcoholic husband finally snaps and murders him. In the ensuing trial she is charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Befriended by her cellmate, a wealthy white woman, she learns English but more importantly her cellmate is so moved by her plight that she asks her stepbrother, a highly respected queen's counsel to file her appeal. When her case is picked up by the media and public support for her freedom gathers momentum, her appeal wins in a groundbreaking case called "Regina vs. Ahluwali", that redefined the word PROVOCATION in the case of a battered woman.