It stars Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson, Robbie Coltrane, Nandita Das and Steve McFadden.

Initially he seems caring and affectionate towards her but soon enough the true colors of her husband begin to show as Deepak gradually reveals a darker, threatening, and even sociopathic side of himself.

After enduring ten years of abuse and having two children with him, Kiranjit, unable to bear the brutality and repeated rapes at the hands of her husband any longer, sets fire to his feet while he is sleeping, unintentionally killing him.

Charged with murder, her case comes to the notice of a group of South Asian social workers running an under funded organization called the Southall Black Sisters.

Veronica enlists her brother, Edward Foster (Robbie Coltrane), a highly respected Queen's Counsel, to aide in Kiranjit's appeal.

Before Kiranjit's appeal hearing the Southall Black Sisters bring her plight to the attention of the media by organizing rallies to gather public support for her freedom.

Aishwarya Rai was present with director Jag Mundhra to promote the film through press conferences and parties.

[2] View London gave it two stars out of five, saying: "Provoked is just about worth seeing for its important subject matter and for Aishwarya Rai's performance but it's a real struggle at times, due to the astonishingly inept direction.

"[citation needed] The BBC website, giving it three stars, claimed that "Provoked avoids sentimentality and illustrates how one woman's bravery helped fuel a nationwide crusade and irrevocably altered British laws on domestic violence".

[3] Derek Elley of Variety stated: "With Rai dignified in a largely reactive role, it's the playing by thesps like Richardson and Das, both excellent, that broadens the pic's emotional palette.

[4] The Times, which gave a three-star rating, noted that "The key to the picture is its resonant message: everyone should see it to be reminded that domestic violence will never be acceptable, and that the law will now not tolerate it.

Mundra thankfully gets Aishwarya Rai to drop her annoying Bollywood mannerisms and surrounds her with sturdy, mainly British, supporting actors.

Sure, the treatment is realistic, production values are good, and the acting is mostly commendable - but the screenplay (Carl Austin, Rahila Gupta) is shockingly superficial.

Starting as the young, coy and simpering wife, Kiranjit, who is abused to such an extent that she sets her husband Deepak (Naveen Andrews) on fire after a particularly brutal beating one night, Rai convincingly goes through the various stages of shock, bewilderment, remorse and finally vindication.

From the very first shot, the actor grabs the role by its horns and shakes it around to sculpt a moving portrayal of a battered woman who happens to chance upon a rare source of inner strength to fight against domestic terror and terrifying traditions that demand silence from a wife, come what may.

[citation needed] In the film Kiranjit Ahluwalia is portrayed as a middle-class homemaker instead of a factory worker as she was in reality, Pragna Patel and Rahila Gupta's characters are merged to create one person (played by the Indian actress Nandita Das), and Americanised legal terminology is used rather than the actual British.