Did You Know Harry Potter's Hagrid has done a movie with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan?

Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane popularly known as Hagrid from the Harry Potter series has worked with Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the 2006 British biographical drama film Provoked. The movie Provoked is loosely based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who was convicted and imprisoned for killing her husband in 1989. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the lead of the movie while her co-actor from Bride and Prejudice (2004), Naveen Andrews plays the role of her husband Deepak Ahluwalia.

Robbie Coltrane's movie with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

In the movie, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays the role of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who unintentionally sets her husband Deepak on fire after enduring ten years of domestic abuse, brutality and marital rapes. She is then charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. In the prison, she befriends another inmate named Veronica Scott played by Miranda Richardson. Veronica appeals to her brother Edward Foster, the role played by Harry Potter's Hagrid aka Robbie Coltrane to help in her appeal. In the movie, Coltrane is a highly respected Queen's Counsel.  With the help of Coltrane, and Southall Black Sisters, an NGO which fights against domestic violence help her in her battle for freedom that ends in redefining the British legal definition of 'provocation' in the case of women who are assaulted.

Facts about Provoked movie

The movie is based on the autobiographical book Circle of Light written by Kiranjit Ahluwalia. It was dubbed in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in order to appeal non-English speaking people in India. Nandita Das leads the NGO Southall Black Sisters which brings Kiranjit Ahluwalia's plight to the media and is also resourceful in gathering public support. Though Coltrane doesn't have a full-fledged role, he makes a tremendous impact.

In an interview with BBC, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan said that initially Kiranjit Ahluwalia didn't want to meet the cast and crew but she did meet them during the second last day of shooting. She added that Kiranjit was disturbed and even teared up during the opening sequence of the film. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in April 2006. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was present with director Jag Mundhra to promote the film. When the movie was screened at Cannes, Kiranjit sat next to Rai Bachchan and was seen holding her hand and getting emotional during violent scenes.

Pic/Aishwarya Rai Bachchan- Instagram and Robbie Coltrane Fan Page on Instagram