Provoked: A True Story

Since it was based on a true story (I remember the case in the media) I really thought that the movie would have been really great. The subject matter had so much potential. Maybe it was the direction of the movie but I did not get the severity of the attacks by the husband to warrant the wife's actions. They also could have delved a little more into both the husband's the wife's character. I'm not really familiar with Aishwarya Rai's work but we've all seen Naveen Andrews in Lost and other works and I know that he is a good actor but I don't think his talents were utilized well. More could have definitely been done with this movie.

The first thing I noticed about the main review made by a person (with subject Awful propaganda, awfully done with an awful message) made on this movie is by mentioning that this is based on a real story and the woman should have done in a different way by calling police or leaving her husband. I can see the person is ignorant of how Indian women treat these kind of issues. A person from other country can not understand this situation, as I personally experienced this kind of situation with a woman with whom I was very close when I was a child. I have not only seen this woman, but seen several of my neighbor ladies having the same situation. It was very common thing to physically abuse/beat their wives in some rural parts of India and they still be obedient to their husband and husband's family. I understand that fact that movie is bad in narrating the story as it could not briefly depict the situation of that Indian woman. It really gets into you when you see the situation in real, I believe she did the mistake too, but most of the times, Indian women consider its their own mistake and be quiet about it. And I say its not always true for all Indian women, some are more educated and feel confident enough to find a solution to the problem and drag it onto the court. Some don't at all. One must stay in this situation and see what goes around in that culture and in those situations to accurately review a story. As another male, I stood in those situations where males were dominating with physical power over women, watching trying to find whats the solution. I could not do anything as a child,I pity on those women who are going though this situation. We being on a computer and read IMDb.com would never understand what goes on in real and in some homes.

this movie had a heap of potential...that wasn't met. the story in its self is a seller but its execution was pathetic. instead of feeling sorry for kiran and considering her actions revoulutionary i walked out thinking that this movie was promoting murder over telling someone e.g. police. i feel this may have had o do with the fact that ash as pretty as she is isn't capable of getting in the skin of a character and making you feel with the character. i walked out considering kiran a weak woman when she probably wasn't in reality. kiran was a Punjabi girl and she was going to be a lawyer, she was obviously educated and intelligent so why portray her as so backward ?? only one scene really portrayed the kind of person kiran was (the scene before he threw her down the stairs) she told him what she felt. the personality of that scene should have been carried through the entire movie...but it wasn't. 5/10 purely for the story & the little effort

The people behind this movie are the ones who should have been set on fire. It's that bad.

The (they claim it's all true) story of an Asian woman in Britain who set her husband on fire because he treated her badly. She eventually becomes a cause celebre because of the incident.

The movie itself is full of melodrama, from over acting to cheesy music, tear-jerking scenes of women bonding in prison, it's a real soap opera. There isn't anything original here, this was all done during the 80's with the "burning bed" movie. It's so one sided that any Asian male who buys into it is probably sleeping out in the garage, in a locked car, after carefully hiding the gasoline can. There is no attempt at all to be objective, or to point out that setting someone on fire isn't a good solution to your marital difficulties.

The problem here is the message: it's OK to set your spouse on fire if they don't treat you well. Never mind the fact that you could just leave, or turn him in to the police, or a hundred other options. This film would have you believe that it's not only OK to set him on fire, it's your moral obligation and you will be a heroine to women everywhere if you do so.

Even if you think it's a good idea to initiate spontaneous combustion of your spouse, and I grant that there may be some who could benefit from that, this movie isn't realistic at all. I'm not reaching for realism in my entertainment, but when you claim it's a true story - try for some truth. Only die hard haters of the male gender could enjoy this, and possibly not all of those. If you have any objectivity at all you'll finish by hating this movie. If you enjoy decent movies, you'll finish by hating this one. And if you have any regard for the opposite gender whatsoever, you'll hate this movie.

Good acting by all. Good storytelling. Battered woman's syndrome is a real thing and this film does a good job in telling that.

A must watch.