Movie Review

Provoked (2007)

EW's GRADE
C+

Details Limited Release: May 11, 2007; Rated: Unrated; Length: 113 Minutes; Genre: Drama; With: Aishwarya Rai and Miranda Richardson

MURDER, SHE WROTE Rai is the beauty who slays the beast — her abusive husband — in Provoked | Provoked, Aishwarya Rai
MURDER, SHE WROTE Rai is the beauty who slays the beast — her abusive husband — in Provoked

Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai is gorgeous even in prison. She's there, we're meant to empathize, as a virtuous Indian wife and mother in London who kills her abusive husband (Lost's Naveen Andrews) in Provoked. Based on a true story, this Indian variation on a theme of The Burning Bed emphasizes the psychological freedom the inmate finds behind bars (especially with Miranda Richardson as a plucky cellmate). But director Jag Mundhra doesn't do enough to clarify that killing, however horrible the man, really isn't okay, even for beautiful women.

Originally posted May 16, 2007 Published in issue #935 May 25, 2007 Order article reprints

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