Review of Provoked

Okie let me come straight to the point. I have read a lot of reviews where all people have talked about is what Aishwarya Rai did in the movie. For me any modern day actress could have pulled it off as good as she did or may be even better. It is the shock value that worked for many as they did not see it coming (read Aishwarya minus the plastic glam). If I was Naveen Andrews I would have been kicking myself for doing this movie. He is way too talented and looked like doing a favour to the makers by accepting the role.

The story had all the ingredients of becoming an earth shattering revolutionary drama. What instead it ended up being is neither a documentary nor a drama. It is true that the makers wanted to stick to the truth and do justice to the book (I have not read it). While trying to achieve that they forgot what viewers were there for. There was no soul behind any scene. No character development. I could not connect to Kiranjit's pain. Art direction looked dated. Dialogues esp. in the courtroom and jail scenes sounded very amateurish.

It had possibly the worst ending with the protagonist looking straight into the camera and delivering a preachy speech. That is the last thing the enterprise needed. Overall a below average product which leaves an awkward taste that one usually gets after biting into any half baked stale food.