Warning: This review is fairly in depth and does contain movie spoilers. Read at your own discretion.

In Prison she found freedom. After a turbulent fight, her sentence was changed from murder to manslaughter. But even years after, an abusive relationship, always leaves you with scars even when you have escaped it. ‘Provoked’ stars Bollywood’s Beauty, Aishwarya Rai in an intense and certainly difficult role. The English-spoken Britain-based film tells the true story of a Punjabi woman, Kiranjit Ahluwalia [Aishwarya Rai], who falls into an arranged marriage with Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews). Shortly after, the abuse begins and the story beings the night Kiranjit decided to re-write her fate.

Instantly, the movie plunges into the story, from the very first frame. We see Kiranjit walking through her house with a candle, her happy family pictures plastered on the house walls. It’s pitch dark—the night of the murder. As soon as the film beings, you are immediately put into Kiranjit’s shoes. The door creaks and Kiranjit quickly pours the mixture of petrol, oil and sugar. Yes, sugar, as it sticks to the victim, allowing the fire to penetrate straight to the bone without being put out fast. Suddenly, the setting reverts to an unaware Kiranjit’s interrogation by APC O’Connell. The film follows Kiranjit’s journey through prison, with flashbacks of her abusive life embedded into the story.

An innocent Kiranjit, afraid to speak, a stranger to the English language, is soon convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Yes, Kiranjit murdered her husband. But the real question is, what brought her to such an extent that ‘murder’ was her only hope for freedom? Kiranjit’s mother-in-law, stubborn and blinded by her son’s death, failed to tell the jury about the abusive situation that used to play out in front of her eyes. One scene in particular shows when Kiranjit is cooking with her mother-in-law and Deepak bursts in cursing. He grabs Kiranjit and begins to strangle her against the wall while his mother begs him to stop. Despite this, Kiranjit’s mother-in-law denied ever witnessing abuse towards Kiranjit. Another person called to the witness box was PC O’Connell, who was present at the night of the murder. Although he seemed to understand Kiranjit, he too presented false information to the court which gave the jury another reason to prosecute Kiranjit. Also, the film shows very well how Kiranjit found her freedom in prison. She left her husband’s cage and was thrown into the cage of the British judiciary system. Yet, this for Kiranjit, was the closest to freedom she had ever known. In prison is also where she makes a friend, Veronica (Miranda Richardson). Veronica helps Kiranjit to learn English and also stands up for her against fellow inmates. Into the picture comes the Southall Black Sisters, particularly Radha (Nandita Das) who fights for Kiranjit’s justice. Putting aside their debts and financial problems, they brought on a case most decided to ignore. With the help of Lord Edward Foster (Robbie Coltrane), they demand justice for Kiranjit and help her fight for what she believes in.

The film grabs you from start to finish. As a young girl, I was immediately drawn into the movie. You feel as if you are Kiranjit. The film is very well told. It captures the emotions of the main character incredibly as well as depicts the unfair judgment that society tends to have. Also, how people from a different background, especially women, are misjudged and not always understood properly. One note-worthy scene is when Kiranjit is asked to take off her jewelry and clothes at a prison, including her mangalsutra, a sacred necklace for married women, and her Kara, a traditional Sikh bracelet. She is made to strip her Punjabi clothes for prison rags, right in front of the officer. A woman, who has never even undressed in front of her husband by choice, was told to ‘take off her clothes’. To Kiranjit, this symbolized a loss of faith and dignity. Another immensely interesting scene is that of Kiranjit’s first lunch, when she is served beef which her religion forbids her to eat. Here, we are introduced to another flashback involving Deepak’s first act of abuse—an act that would be the beginning to a brutal 10 years. Another scene I liked and although it didn’t contain physical abuse, showed another horrible side to Deepak. His verbal abuse towards Kiranjit shows the audience that it doesn’t take a fist to hurt a person and their feelings. Kiranjit buys a wool jacket and decides to wear it on the evening her husband, Deepak, plans to take her out to a cinema. He cringes at seeing his wife in a wool jacket and screams at her to ‘Stop dressing like a white woman’.

Though there are many amazing scenes, one wishes that there were more scenes to show Deepak’s abusive nature so that the viewer understood why Kiranjit did what she did. The film focuses more on Kiranjit’s story after the murder rather than the reasoning behind it. Yes, it is a sensitive subject, but essentially the film required these scenes for more impact. One scene in particular that should have been shown was the rape scene because it would help us to understand Kiranjit’s motivation for murdering Deepak.

In the jury’s eyes, this wasn’t a case of self-defense. What is quite interesting about the story is that Kiranjit never really intended to murder her husband. She simply wanted to set his feet on fire so that he couldn’t run after her, but once he woke up, she screams and pours it all over him, quickly lighting him on fire. Truly, this is a shocking film that captures the life of an amazing woman, despite the seemingly wrong actions. It’s a film that would have any emotional person in tears.

The film has a strong message. It tells the audience that domestic abuse still exists and society seems to turn a blind eye to this topic of discussion. It is a big issue that must be dealt with. The main plea is that woman shouldn’t suffer in silence.

Aishwarya Rai; the star of the show. Even that statement is an understatement to describe how excellent Aishwarya’s portrayal of Kiranjit is. The facial expressions, the Punjabi accent, the tears and the screams; everything was amazing. Aishwarya has certainly impressed. After Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Raincoat, Chokher Bali, Umrao Jaan and Guru, Provoked ranks among the best of Aishwarya Rai. Aishwarya grabs you, she makes the audience get into the character’s shoes and helps us to feel what Kiranjit felt. This, really, is what I believe makes the film; the ability to capture the audience.

Also, Naveen Andrews’s famously known for playing Sayid on the smash hit TV Drama ‘Lost’ does a great job. He portrays the role of a disgusting and alcoholic Deepak very impressively. Playing an ex-Iraqi torturer, he puts those abusive acting skills into action in ‘Provoked’ and really makes you hate him after watching the film.

A few other people who have done a fantastic job are Miranda Richardson and Nandita Das. They both play the role of the two women who helped gaining Kiranjit’s freedom back. However, some of the smaller characters seemed quite amateur.

Not all credit can go to the stars of the film. Jag Mundhra the director of ‘Provoked’ has amazingly put the film together. Known for his erotic and sexual films, Jag totally moves away from all that and put together a fantastic piece of work. He has captured how Kiranjit found her freedom in prison.

One of the disappointments of the film is that there weren’t enough abuse scenes to help the viewer understand Kiranjit’s actions. Also, the film is a bit slow-paced. The director concentrated more on the appeal of Kiranjit rather than on her abuse. The film is also quite short, and a bit of meat to the story would only have made the story stronger and to the point.

Overall, I personally enjoyed the movie a lot. I recommend this film to anyone. It isn’t a light movie. The film puts across a strong moral that woman shouldn’t suffer in silence. The film is sure to get into your heart and mind and leave you with a thought that there are woman still suffering. It’s a film to make you emotional and frustrated at the same time. Watch it for Aishwarya’s superb performance! This film makes you want to change the views of society on woman and Jag certainly has achieved what he set out to do.
It is certainly well made and should be watched.

Bear in mind, the film contains strong language, nudity [some scenes] and violence. It is rated as a 15 in UK and PG-13 in America and Europe.

Provoked is a post from: BollySpice

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Ingredients:
1 x 15ml (1 tbsp) sunflower oil; 1 onion, finely chopped;
250g (9oz) frozen spinach, defrosted and well drained;
250g (9oz) of Ricotta Cheese; 8 cannelloni tubes; Pinch grated nutmeg.

For Cheese Sauce:
50g (2oz) low fat margarine; 50g (2oz) low fat cheddar cheese; 25g (1oz) fresh grated parmesan.

Method:
1. Heat the oil and fry onion for 2 minutes.
2. Place in a large bowl with the spinach, nutmeg and ricotta cheese, Season.
3. Using a teaspoon to fill each cannelloni tube, tip the tube on its end and spoon the mixture in. Please each filled tube in a large ovenproof dish. Set to one side.
4. Place all the sauce ingredients except the cheddar and grated parmesan, into a saucepan. Heat stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
5. Stir in the cheddar and once it has melted, pour the sauce over the cannelloni. Sprinkle with grated parmesan.
6. Cook in the center of the over for 30-35 minutes.

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When you do not feel as you want to feel you loose your confidence and self esteem. Looking ‘perfect’ is everyone’s dream and to fulfill that dream you have to begin a healthy diet and believe in yourself.

There are many ways to improve your diet and become healthier and it all doesn’t involve food. I take you step by step into loosing some weight and becoming a much more confident and nicer looking person.

Step 1:
Plan out your weekly food diet. Get a piece of paper and write out what you plan to eat at what time on what day. Remember, cut down on all the bog portions of food as you get bloated quicker and it’s hard for your body to digest. Smaller portions are better as it’s easier for you to digest and because the portion is lighter you feel more comfortable after you‘ve eaten. Try to balance your food categories. Fish on Mondays and Wednesdays, Meat on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on Fridays treat yourself to something special but not too much. Always include a small side snack of salad or vegetables. Drink fresh drinks such as fresh orange juice. And as a dessert make a fruit salad or fruit cheesecake. Make sure to eat your 5 fruits per day.

Sometimes when you begin a diet your body can react in many ways. Sometimes your metabolism drops or your sugar level and you will become tired or warn out. This is because your body isn’t used to your diet therefore it’s a way of telling you ‘Feed Me Properly’ now the worst thing to do is to give up or eat something unhealthy like a chocolate bar and then you keep on eaten and all your hard work is down the drain. Fruits contain sugar and vitamins as well. If you begin to feel tired or warn out then Bananas, Apples and Pineapples are extremely helpful in building your energy back. So don’t be tempted to pick up a chocolate, pick up a fruit instead.

Step 2:
Exercise. Now I know you may be thinking ‘I haven’t got the time’ or ‘I can’t be bothered’. Eating Healthy does make you loose weight but if you exercise as well not only are you speeding up your time to loose weight but you are becoming a fitter person. By exercising you improve your metabolism rate making your body shred body fat quicker. And we want to be in time s you can have that nice toned summer body in order to slip into that bikini you’ve always dreamt of. I suggest you begin a membership at your local gym. You don’t have to go there everyday. Even once a week is fine as long as you are training your body and achieving that goal of becoming a fitter person. And if you haven’t got the time to attend the gym then who said you needed a gym. Wake up a little early in the mornings and go for a nice jog around the block or down the street. Ad if you don’t fancy jiggling your brain in the morning then power walking is extremely great. Hold your belly in and tighten your bum then walk fast. It’s so easy and you can feel your thighs, belly and bum toning. Have a pet? Great. Taking the dog or even the rabbit for a walk is great exercise; just make sure they don’t poo because I’m sure you won’t want to be cleaning that up. Mind you it might be good exercise for your back. Do a few press ups or push up’s to warm up or cool down. And then when you’re done for the day, have a nice hot bath to un-tense your muscles.

Step 3:
Have a good night sleep. Sleep is the most important ingredient in a person’s life. Everyone should at least sleep 8 hours a day. If you are not getting around 8 hours a night then your body becomes physically and emotionally tired. You begin to feel weak and this will lead to stress. When a person has a stressful life the easiest thing is to ‘comfort eat’. Comfort eating is when you crouch onto the sofa and eat absolute junk. This isn’t the answer. Eating junk food just makes you feel worst afterwards and it does have a physical impact on your body. If you sleep then your body and brain receive the rest they need and the next morning you are filled with energy and you feel happier. So 8 hours a night is what you need. If you find it hard to sleep then having a nice hot bath before you go bed is very helpful. Pour some bath oil into your bath. This helps to relax your body and mind. Also, listen to some peaceful music before or while your sleeping. This is another way to relax you. Make sure you eat at least 1 hour before you go bed. The worst thing to do is to eat before you go bed because you feel uncomfortable and this makes it hard to sleep.

These 3 easy steps are sure to help you become a healthier and happier person. It wont be easy and there will be times you feel like you want to give up but hang in there and you’ll pull through and in the end you will have achieved it and have the body and weight you want and you’ll feel so proud of yourself that you finally did it.

Healthy Ways to Lose Weight is a post from: BollySpice

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Ingredients
2 cups (400g) medium-grain white rice
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 x 220g skinless salmon fillets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 small red Thai chilli, seeded, sliced thinly lengthways
500g baby bok choy, quartered lengthways

Salmon in Sesame Crust is a post from: BollySpice

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Method
1. Cut up Lettuce and fill the bottom of your glass as a base.

2. Place 10 small prawns on top of the lettuce.

3. Meanwhile, get a small bowl and put your mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and salad cream and mix it well together to get your pink sauce.

4. Pour your pink sauce onto the small prawns and lettuce

5. Place the 10 other prawns onto the side of the cup and slice a lemon and place it on the side of the cup.

6. To add the finishing touch sprinkle paprika onto the small prawns covered with pink sauce and place into the fridge for 10 minutes.

Servings: 1 person

Serve cold.

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You will need: saucepan, bowl, cling film, baking tray

Ingredients
1 chocolate fridge cake
350g dark chocolate
2 tablespoon Demerara sugar
4 drops of peppermint essence

To decorate:
125g small strawberries
75g redcurrants
fresh mint
75g raspberries
cocoa powder
icing sugar

Method
1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.

2. In a separate bowl combine the sugar and peppermint essence.

3. Add the melted chocolate and then spread the mixture evenly over a tray lined with cling film. Refrigerate until set.

4. Cut the strawberries in half and arrange over the cake with the other berries. Put a sprig of mint on the top.

5. Remove the chocolate from the freezer and break into shards. Dust with cocoa powder and icing sugar and arrange on the top of the cake. Serve immediately.

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Step 1.
Wash your hair with shampoo. Rinse thoroughly and then put conditioner in. Leave conditioner for approximately 3 minutes before rinsing thoroughly.

Step 2.
Pat dry your hair with a towel. While damp, put mousse or hair foam into your hands.

Step 3.
Flip your hair over while leaning forward and start scrunching your hair working from the tips to your scalp. Repeat this 3-4 times until you can see your hair gaining a few curls.

Step 4.
Flip your hair back over then put some more mousse into your hands and scrunch your hair working from tips to your scalp. Repeat this twice.

Step 5.
Afterwards, put some hair cream or hair wax into your hands and scrunch your hair working from tips to scalp until you gradually build a shine.

Step 6.
Lastly, shake your head to add some volume. Spray it with some hair spray and there you have your perfect wavy hair style!

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The rumor started when the two first started filming the upcoming flick “Umrao-Jaan” directed by JP Dutta. And, from then on we’ve heard rumors that Ash and Jr. B are dating, or they are getting engaged in October this year and then getting married in December of this year, and how Jr.B’s uncle went to see an astrologer and the two horoscopes matched but she was a manglik and so the Bachchans didn’t approve.

Then Vrinda Rai “supposedly” went out into public and told how the Bachchan’s disapproved and all hell broke loose. The soon after the media were on again how the two broke up but then got back together and how Abhishek rings Ash every hour.

Ok so all these stories and not one photo of the two seen as a couple, or an announcement from either Abhishek or Aishwarya. Just seems a little strange, don’t you think?
However, don’t expect Ash or Abhi to come out and announce that they’re dating if that’s the truth. Both actors are very personal when it comes to their “off-screen life”

So we got to just wait and see. Maybe they are dating. Maybe they’re not. Who knows?

But, if you have noticed they have spent an awfully long time together. I mean they were together on the sets of Dhoom 2, Umrao-Jaan and Guru.

Maybe they did have a fling but it’s ended or maybe there never was a relationship between the two.

So many questions, but NO answers.

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai’s alleged love affair? is a post from: BollySpice

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