Anubhuti Kashyap’s Accused, from Dharmatic Entertainment, is thematically ripe with promise. Conceptually, the Netflix film has a lot going for it. A gender-flipped #MeToo thriller centred around an openly queer couple, played by two fine actors—Konkona Sen Sharma and Pratibha Ranta. A strained relationship drama clashes with the thriller packaging of a media trial and an investigation that follows a series of misconduct allegations.
The breadcrumbs, the clues, the secrets, the ethically murky territory and warped power dynamics of workplace romances, our collective readiness to judge and condemn women compared with their male counterparts, and so on.
But none of it matters when the craft and storytelling are this shoddy. I’m talking “Why do all the white actors in this apparently London-based story have different accents?” level bad.
Accused has the sensibility, pitch, zero-shits-given dubbing and lazy attention to detail of a low-hanging fruit of a JioHotstar show (derogatory). The locations, sets and wonky craft all seem cobbled together, the “production value”, as the kids call it, has you struggling not to reach for the word "tacky".
Given the talent and production house attached (ironically known for their lavish packaging), the fact that Accused is this shaky and flat (to put it kindly) is nothing short of baffling. The mystery of what went wrong here—and how the film misfires so marvellously—is more enticing than anything the dull narrative has to offer.
Wobbly Craft And Lazy Attention To Detail
Meet hotshot surgeon Geetika Sen (Konkona Sen Sharma). She’s a top doctor who’s about to become the new dean at London’s Chapelstone General Hospital. Geetika is arrogant, obnoxious and doesn’t suffer fools. It’s a fun idea—to gender-flip the typical ‘male medical genius who plays by their own rules’ archetype (think Doctor Strange, Dr House, or most TV doctors). Geetika is married to fellow doctor Meera (Pratibha Ranta). Accused is set in London for no clear narrative reason that I could discern, other than the fact that a lesbian couple can be open without fear of judgment or discrimination.
When Geetika is accused of sexual harassment by a series of anonymous former patients and ex-colleagues, an investigation ensues, social media outrage follows, and her life begins to unravel. She maintains that she’s innocent and that someone with an axe to grind is out to destroy her.
Those around her are less sure. The closer her life is examined under a microscope, the more secrets emerge, ranging from belittling her colleagues to illicit relationships with former employees and being unfaithful to her partner. But is she the predator she’s accused of being?
To do justice to its lofty ideas of gender discrimination, blurred lines, rival perspectives and workplace power dynamics, a film like this demands nuance and sophistication. Failing that, to do justice to the bare basics beats of a thriller, it simply demands that it not be dull. Unfortunately, it fails on all counts.
Accused struggles to work as a relationship drama, a differing perspectives thriller, or even a competent investigation narrative.
There isn’t an ounce of atmosphere on offer, the drama is flat, the characters are wafer-thin, annoying and whiny, and the web of mystery of accusers and suspects is poorly designed. The problem is not whether Geetika Sen did it or not. The problem is that the film struggles to get us to care.
Bland Drama
You’d think an uninteresting, unexciting Konkona performance is a mathematical impossibility, but tragically, Accused rises to the occasion. The shoddy storytelling flattens her talents.
The promising territory of watching Geetika liberally gaslight as a selfish partner and questionable boss who’s backed into a corner, instead results in a character that’s little more than whiny, defensive and irritating. You don’t root for her or feel for her. The writing makes damn sure of that.
Similarly, the Pratibha Ranta character should be near impossible not to feel for. The “victim”, caught between a selfish partner, her lies and the storm around her. It’s a character that should demand empathy. But a stiff Pratibha looks visibly uncomfortable amidst her surroundings, almost as if she’s aware of the film she’s in.
In the right hands, the one character that could have added an ounce of playfulness to the proceedings is the relentless hospital investigator tasked with digging into Geetika’s past—here played by an uninteresting Mashhoor Amrohi. It's the kind of role Akshaye Khanna would have devoured a few years ago. Alas.
Aditya Nanda plays a red herring as Meera’s friend who clearly has feelings for her. I think we’re supposed to suspect him as the one trying to destroy Geetika’s life. Ironically, that would have made for a far more interesting narrative direction examining possessiveness and sexuality. Alas.
The wider cast, made up of a sea of poorly established, interchangeable white people characters, are awkward and irritating.
In a 90-minute film about sexual misconduct allegations, that the most squirm-in-your-seat uneasiness comes from a shrill, concluding moral-of-the-story monologue with Geetika talking at us about how women are punished for being ambitious, and that power must be handled with care, says it all.
Accused releases on Netflix on February 27.
(Suchin Mehrotra is a critic and film journalist who covers Indian cinema for a range of publications. He's also the host of The Streaming Show podcast on his own YouTube channel. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)