'Provoked,' 'Vanaja' to Bookend Indian Film Fest in LA

Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson and Nandita Das star in Jag Mundhra’s Provoked, which will open the 5th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 17.

The festival says the English-language film features Aishwarya Rai "as a battered Punjabi wife who is sentenced to life for murdering her alcoholic abusive husband and is later pardoned by the English courts by an unprecedented appeal that redefined the laws of 'Provocation' in future battered spouse legal cases." Provoked will be released by Eros Entertainment in the US in May.

Closing night film on Sunday, April 22 will be Vanaja, a very thoughtful, deliberately-paced drama about a young girl coming of age. Featuring good to excellent performances by non-professional actors, Rajnesh Domalpalli’s directorial debut resolutely avoids a simple, sentimental approach to what could be a maudlin, melodramatic story. (That's my description, not the festival's.) Good flick.

This is a great festival run by dedicated, passionate people, and it's wonderful to see it continuing to grow and prosper. It deserves your support -- I'm looking at you, Angelenos!

Tickets go on sale today; the full line-up is already online. More information is available at the festival web site; trailers available at the official web site of each film.

Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles
Provoked - official web site
Vanaja - official web site