Movie Review : Provoked

I didn't plan to watch TV last night, but while waiting to use the bathroom because cik HB was in it (it was 9 pm, and I hadn't take my bath yet, 'cuti' from solat made me completed the cooking and house cleaning first before taking bath), I browsed the TV channels and noticed that Ashwarya Rai was in a movie aired on Astro Kirana. This is not a typical Bollywood movie cause I will not spend my time on weekdays night watching a Bollywood movie. When I checked the info box, it said the movie is based on a true story, about an abused woman who killed her husband. It sounded so interesting, so I decided to watch it, forgetting that I had not taken bath yet.

Prologue

The movie started by showing Aishwarya ( She played as Kiranjit Aluhwalia in this movie) being taken to the prison. (Note: this movie was based in UK). She was charged with attempted murder of her husband. Apparently she has set fire on her husband while he was sleeping. Not long after that, her husband, Deepak (played by Naveen Andrews, he's the Iraqi guy in 'Lost' ) died due to the critical injuries from the fire. Kiranjit then was convicted with murder charge of course.

Kiran's Background

As the movie showed flashbacks of Kiran's past, her life with her husband from the day they got married, it was reflected that Kiran has been physically, mentally and sexually abused by her husband. Kiran was a typical Indian woman, being raised in a traditional Indian-Punjabi family in a remote village in India. It was an arranged marriage, she met the husband on the day they tied the knot. When she expressed her worries to be married to a guy that she hardly knew, a family member convinced her that this guy she was about to marry is a good guy, with stable income, and will take a good care of her. Furthermore, she will venture a promising life in UK. See, her husband was an Indian-Punjabi guy being raised and based in UK, so right after the wedding, Kiran followed her husband to the new country and new life.

The Abuse

The first physical abuse she got, was when they came home after a dinner arranged by Deepak's friends. This one friend, asked Deepak to dance with Kiran but Deepak refused. Instead, he insisted this friend to dance with Kiran. Kiran was reluctant at first but since Deepak insisted so much, she agreed. And the dance did not involve any physical touch between Kiran and the guy she danced with. After a while, she enjoyed it and started laughing with the guy. Deepak who was watching, started showing jealousy impression. When they reached home, Deepak started accusing that this friend has fallen for Kiran and Kiran also seemed to be interested in this guy. Kiran denied it and said that Deepak was being foolish by saying those things. And instantly, Deepak hit Kiran on her face that she fell down and her mouth bled. Deepak, however apologized profusely for his act, giving excuses that he loved Kiran so much, he couldn't stand to see Kiran with another guy. (So ironic, huh? He was the one who insisted!)

Then series of abuse followed in their 10 years of marriage (they then have 2 sons) . Deepak committed adultery openly and when Kiran questioned about it, he beat her brutally . He spent his money on liquor and women and left just a small amount of money for Kiran to buy house expenses. And when Kiran asked how she would survive with small amount of money, he said 'Go ask from your brothers!'. When he was drunk, he forced Kiran to have sex in brutal manner. He constantly scolded Kiran for the way she dressed, she acted and even for drinking black coffee and watching TV! One scene, Kiran was heavily pregnant trying to persuade Deepak not to go out (because she knew that Deepak was going to see his lover) but Deepak pushed her aside and Kiran fell down the staircase.

The First Court Trial

Kiran was very unfortunate in her first court trial. When her mother in-law was called to give testimony and she was asked how was the relationship between Kiran and her husband and whether she has witnessed any abuse on Kiran, the flashback showed while Kiran was cooking with her mother in-law, Deepak suddenly dashed into the kitchen, hit and straggled Kiran because he accused that Kiran had humiliated him by calling his office and talking to the woman that he has affairs with. If it not of his mother protecting Kiran, Deepak must have killed her. However, instead of telling the truth, the lady mentioned that Kiran was an arrogant and bossy wife and she has NEVER witnessed any of the abuses as claimed by Kiran. ( I guess, because she is Deepak's mother, she wouldn't want to admit the bad sides of her own son, besides she must be very angry that her daughter-in-law has killed him no matter how bad he was).

One of the witness, a policeman who first arrived at Kiran's house after receiving report on the fire, has actually found Kiran in bewilderment and not in the state of awareness. But just before he went into the court, his superior has warned him not to tell the truth as he did not want another crime case to slip away from punishment (he strongly believed that Kiran is an evil lady for her act and claiming being abused is just an excuse!). The policeman though was reluctant but he obeyed what he was told to do.

Only a doctor, who had given treatment to Kiranjit justified that she believed Kiran has been abused. In her flashback, she said when Kiran came to see her, accompanied by her husband, she was badly injured with bruises on her body and twisted wrist. She claimed she fell down but the doctor felt that she was trying to tell her something else but afraid to do so as the husband was around. The doctor tried to send Deepak away by giving excuse that she needed to check further on Kiran and Deepak may have to fill up some forms at the administration counter but Deepak, as if could feel what the doctor was up to, refused to obey her request and took Kiran home.

Kiran's lawyer felt that the case would not be on Kiran's side, insisted that Kiran must stand up for herself by being a witness. But Kiran refused to do so. She gave lame excuses like she couldn't speak English well and people would laugh at her. She also said that she was sinned therefore she would accept whatever the verdict is. ( I was initially angry with her attitude, but at this point Kiran's actual personality was not fully described and how the fire tragedy happened did not come into the picture yet). Kiran's lawyer was actually hired by the government to defend Kiran, so she must not have received big amount of fee, so when Kiran herself has given up, this lawyer also did not bother to fight further.

In UK, as the verdict of a trial will be based on the decision made by a group of juries (public citizens), therefore the conclusion made by the lawyers and direction given by the judge plays important role in the decision making. Kiran's lawyer was not good enough, the prosecutor was determined to win the case, and the judge has made his own conclusion indirectly indicating that Kiran was already guilty, so guess what was the verdict? She was found guilty for murdering his husband and sentenced to life prisoned.

The Volunteers

Kiran's case has attracted a group of volunteers who work to help abused women. This one lady (I couldn't remember her name) has personally went to see Kiran at the prison to get to know her and her situation before the trial. But at that time Kiran was still keeping to herself, she did not talk much therefore this lady couldn't get much things from her. When Kiran was announced to be guilty at the court, the volunteers made havoc about it, saying that the court has misjudged the case. They also went to see Kiran's lawyer and asked her to make plea for Kiran's case. They also arranged for Kiran's children visits to the prison.

The Prison Life

Initially, Kiran found it difficult to adapt to the prison's life. See, when Kiran moved to UK, she was confined to her house, she hardly mingled with other people except her family. That was why she couldn't communicate well in English. She also had no self-confidence, felt like she did not deserve to be treated nicely by others. This is due to her miserable married life. But she was lucky because her cell mate was a nice woman, named Ronnie. Ronnie and Kiran has one thing in common, they both went to the prison because they killed they husband. Ronnie had been abused by her husband. With Ronnie, Kiran improved her personality, learned better English and even learned to make friends. Ronnie was the one who helped Kiran to get lawyer for her pleading trial.

Pleading Trial

Kiran's pleading trial only began after she was in prison for 3 years and 5 months. Prior to this, the volunteers and the lawyers struggled so hard to get evidence that could support Kiran in her plea including all law and psychology terms that were possible to explain Kiran's act (killing her husband). They wanted to plea for manslaughter instead of murder due to her husband's abuse that provoked her to act in such way. See, Kiran has been abused in 10 years with all sorts of ways : physical, mental and sexual, so one day she just snapped and had her way to revenge. Flashback showed the night Kiran killed her husband, Kiran was beaten and threatened with hot iron because Deepak found out that she withdrew his money from the bank. Though Kiran said she used the money to buy house expenses, Deepak was very angry because he said Kiran had no right on his money or his house. He spat at her saying that she was only a useless woman.

Two hours after that, while Deepak was sleeping, Kiran stepped into their bedroom carrying a small container and a lit candle. Kiran was actually crying when she poured the liquid from the container (which I believed was gasoline) and while doing so, Deepak woke up and Kiran accidentally dropped the candle and immediately fire spread on Deepak's body.

In the end after hearing all the evidences highlighted by Kiran's lawyer (I'm sorry I'm not able to elaborate on the trial details as it involved lots of legal terms which I don't understand), the court agreed that Kiran's case to be charged as manslaughter and since she has served 3 years and 5 months in the jail, the period is considered as her punishment. Kiran was then released.

Happy Ending

Kiran returned to her sons after being released from prison. Her story has attracted the public and media. In 2001, Kiran received award from UK government for her important role in Asia women development in UK (I'm not very sure about the award, and why she received her award, but when she was in jail she said she wanted to be a lawyer, so I guess she became one later).

My Conclusion

I'm not Ashwarya' s big fan but I love her acting talent in this movie. Most Bollywood movies she was involved, exploited her beautiful face and body. But in this movie, it was merely her acting talent. She wore no make-up, no fancy dress and of course no super-dupa dancing move. This movie did not really focus on law issues (I mean if we are looking for satisfaction in the lawyers' tongue fightings like John Grisham's 'The Pelican Brief' or Law and Order ). It was simply a story about a woman who was abused by her husband, she killed him, lost her self-esteem but got back on her feet with the help of many people around her. Moral of the story: If you are victim of domestic abuse, go get help from the right people, don't kill your husband/wife ok!!!