Details of actress Aishwarya Rai's next British movie were revealed at the Cannes Film Festival this week. Titled Provoked, it will also feature Buddha of Suburbia actor Naveen Andrews.

The project is based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, to be played by Rai, who left India to marry her husband in London. After facing domestic abuse for years she eventually retaliated by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight.

Ahluwalia was convicted of murdering her husband in 1989 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Her cause was taken up by the group Southall Black Sisters and the sentence was eventually quashed in 1992. The court accepted her plea of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

The case not only raised awareness of domestic violence, it also made British legal history in changing the way such cases were interpreted by law.

She later received an award from Cherie Blair for her courage and wrote an autobiography with Rahila Gupta, Circle of Light, on which the film screenplay is based.

It will be directed by Jagmohan Mundhra who has made two films; Kamla and Bawandar, both about real stories of traumatised Indian women.

"Provoked has to be made correctly, only then will it be effective," Aishwarya Rai said in an interview last week. "I think Jagmohan Mundhra is the right person to tackle the subject." She said it was part of his "trilogy of tributes to Indian womanhood."

The actress was in UK for Paul Berges and Gurinder Chadha's latest film Mistress Of Spices when she was approached with the idea. "I immediately consented. Within two weeks everything fell in place," she said. "It's the first time I'm playing a real-life character, so you can imagine my excitement and nervousness."

Producer Sunanda Murali said: "It's amazing how so many people relate to the story. So many people know about the story. It's satisfying to be involved in a project like this that has so much value."

Naveen Andrews will play the husband and Indian actress Nandita Das, a member of the jury at this year's Cannes, will play an activist working for Southall Black Sisters. Rai and Andrews were both recently in Bride and Prejudice.

British actor Robbie Coltrane will play Rai's barrister while Miranda Richardson will be an inmate who helps her in prison.