Jagmohan on Provoked and Ash
Jagmohan Mundhra talks about his 'project with a soul' Provoked which has Aishwarya Rai delivering a great performance and not just looking glamorous.
First
and
foremost,
how
did
this
project
with
Aishwarya
Rai
in
an
unconventional
role
come
about?
See
I
am
an
artsy
maker
who
is
in
touch
with
actors
like
Nandita
Das,
Shabana
Azmi
and
Tabu.
I
have
no
reach
in
Bollywood.
It
came
about
when
Ash
was
shooting
for
The
Mistress
of
Spices
in
London.
She
was
friends
with
producer
Murli
Manohar
and
it
was
he
who
told
her
about
this
project.
At
that
time
nobody
was
ready
to
finance
my
film.
He
asked
me
to
narrate
the
story
to
her
and
when
I
did,
she
said
she
wanted
to
do
it.
It
was
8TH
March
2005
when
I
first
met
her
and
on
6th
May
2005,
she
was
on
the
set
with
me
to
shoot
for
the
film.
She
did
not
want
to
wait
till
2007
as
was
decided
earlier."
You
sound
mighty
satisfied
with
her
performance
too...
Actually
when
I
was
talking
to
Ash
about
the
story
I
could
see
that
everything
in
her
expressions
showed
up
in
her
eyes
and
so
my
treatment
has
concentrated
on
the
close-ups
of
her
eyes.
Whether
there
is
love,
fear,
joy,
panic,
everything
shows
up
in
her
eyes.
I
told
her
that
five
minutes
into
the
film
and
people
would
forget
it
is
Aishwarya
Rai,
Miss
World.
Since
the
film
is
based
on
the
real
life
experience
of
Kiranjit
Ahluwalia
who
is
sent
to
jail
for
killing
her
torturous
husband,
did
Ash
meet
Kiranjit
before
starting
to
shoot
for
the
film?
I
actually
did
not
want
them
to
meet
in
person
before
I
start
the
film.
See,
actresses
have
the
tendency
to
copy
the
mannerisms
or
look
of
the
other
person.
If
Kiranjit
was
Sonia
Gandhi
then
it
was
important
to
have
resemblance.
Since
Kiranjit
is
not
so,
I
wanted
the
film
to
be
more
about
Kiranjit
and
all
the
Kiranjits
in
this
world.
If
Provoked
didn't
have
Aishwarya,
who
would
you
have
preferred
as
your
leading
lady?
No,
I
really
did
not
have
any
one
in
mind.
Maybe
Tabu
since
Shabana
is
a
little
old
to
play
this
role.
But
when
Aishwarya
came
in,
I
realized
that
that
the
funding
would
come
through
in
no
time.
Secondly
there
will
be
a
lot
more
exposure
of
this
issue
if
she
is
in
it
because
she
is
a
brand
recognized
everywhere
and
the
audience
which
normally
would
not
come
to
see
a
film
like
Provoked,
say,
if
I
had
made
it
with
Shabana
or
Tabu,
they
would
be
curious
to
see
Aishwarya
Rai.
I
really
applaud
Aishwarya
for
lending
her
name
to
a
film
which
is
different
and
doesn't
just
make
her
look
pretty.
The
film
has
quite
an
ensemble
star
cast
from
various
countries?
Yes,
I
am
happy
to
work
with
actors
like
Naveen
Andrews,
Miranda
Richardson
and
Rebecca
Pidgeon.
They
were
easy
going
in
spite
of
their
star
status
in
the
West.
They
didn't
make
me
feel
that
they
had
done
bigger
projects
than
this
one.
Nandita
Das
is
another
good
actress
who
I
love
to
work
with.
Because it is a real life story, it must have been difficult to decide what to use and what not to...
Yeah, it is always the tough part. I knew I was not making a documentary but a feature film. By virtue of selecting some and leaving some, one can say it is not really a true story. But the idea is that the essence of the story is true. The facts in the story are true. But I had to compose the characters. For example, Nandita Das's character is a composite of three women. Now, if I would have made five women do the same thing, the effect would have been diluted. So there is nothing wrong in compositing characters.
Some
feel
that
you
could
have
heightened
emotions
in
the
film
to
make
it
look
a
little
different
and
hard
hitting.
But
you
chose
not
to
do
so.
Why??
I
did
not
want
the
film
to
be
all
just
about
abuse.
The
husband;
here
Naveen
Andrews,
could
have
been
shown
taking
out
his
belt
and
beating
her.
I
did
not
want
to
make
it
gruesome.
The
truth
had
enough
abuse
to
make
you
cringe.
According
to
me,
the
film
has
three
layers
in
the
story.
One
was
the
story
of
love
and
betrayal,
the
second
part
was
the
female
bonding
of
how
Kiran
blossomed
in
such
an
environment,
why
she
felt
that
in
prison
she
found
freedom.
The
third
part
of
the
story
was
about
this
small
group
of
social
workers
who
had
no
resources,
no
money
and
still
they
fought
with
the
British
system
and
how
they
succeeded
in
changing
the
law.
Through
this
film
I
wanted
to
expose
the
system,
as
to
how
the
system
failed
Kiran
and
how
the
system
keeps
using
people.
Since so much has gone into the story, does he expect the people to come out of the theater with a changed opinion?
Actually we hope that our film can change opinions. It should make people think about it. If they come out of the theater with the same opinion then I will say, I have failed as a film-maker. So whether they like it or not, whether they agree with it or not, but they can't blame the film. This is the whole point.
Talking
about
Kiranjit,
has
she
has
ever
told
you
that
she
regrets
what
she
has
done
or
if
she
thinks
she
could
have
done
anything
better?
In
all
our
relationships,
we
hope
that
we
could
change
the
other
person.
But
that
doesn't
happen
in
reality.
She
kept
on
hoping
that
he
would
change,
after
the
first
child,
then
after
the
second,
but
it
did
not
happen.
There
were
moments
where
he
was
very
nice,
so
she
thought
she
could
stop
that
moment
and
the
other
moment
would
not
come
back.
But
that
did
not
happen.
She
does
regret
what
she
had
done
but
she
says
it
would
have
been
better
had
she
managed
to
walked
out.
She
wished
she
had
the
guts
to
walk
out
with
her
two
children
But
does
he
think
it
was
easier
for
her
to
bend
the
rules
or
propagate
herself
out
of
the
situation
because
she
was
in
London,
where
as
it
would
have
been
more
difficult
for
her
to
do
so
here
in
India?
I
don't
know
but
it
was
not
easy
that
time
in
London
also.
It
was
only
because
the
group
South
Hall
Black
sisters
was
accessible
and
they
took
upon
the
case.
They
formed
rallies
to
raise
money
for
her
appeal
and
her
appeal
almost
did
not
go
through
as
shown
in
the
movie.
Then
she
was
helped
by
this
big
lawyer
and
only
then
did
she
manage
it.
It
is
amazing
that
even
the
white
people
charge
no
money
to
fight
cases.
What
I
did
was
that
I
got
every
single
document
from
both
the
courts;
the
court
which
actually
gave
the
judgment
and
the
court
which
heard
the
appeal.
I
have
the
arguments
of
the
lawyers
also.
I
also
got
the
actual
document
of
interrogation.
That
is
how
I
created
the
questionnaire
and
arguments
that
you
saw
in
the
court
scene
of
the
movie.
Did
you
have
any
trouble
with
the
censor
board
since
the
film
has
verbal
and
physical
abuse?
There
was
not
a
single
cut.
They
believed
the
abusive
words
in
the
story
were
important.
So
they
gave
an
'A'
certificate.
They
said
that
if
I
want
a
U/A,
I
will
have
to
mute
the
bad
words.
But
I
felt
it
is
necessary
only
for
satellite.
That
way,
adults
would
be
treated
as
adults.
Let
people
who
want
to
watch
it
get
the
full
impact
of
it.
In
Hindi
and
Punjabi
dubbing
those
words
are
not
there
There
is
a
buzz
that
the
film
will
be
released
in
India
not
just
in
English.
A
film
is
dubbed
in
Hindi
and
Punjabi.
The
title
is
the
same,
Provoked
because
we
do
not
want
to
prove
to
the
audience
that
it
is
some
other
film
Last
but
not
the
least,
what
are
your
expectations
from
the
movie?
I
know
that
this
film
will
be
doing
well.
It
is
for
a
certain
segment
of
the
audience.
Thankfully
due
to
the
multiplexes,
one
can
segment
the
audience.
This
film
will
satisfy
the
audience
which
likes
to
see
such
films.