Accused

Days before Anubhuti Kashyap’s Accused dropped on Netflix, the director admitted that the film was made keeping in mind the audience and algorithm. Her words were a radical confession, one that freely used the “A” word and distilled an aesthetic that is increasingly becoming a norm in the streaming landscape. Algorithm filmmaking, bent on holding the audience’s attention hostage, has diverse symptoms, ranging from using stark colours, recurring expositions and, as Kashayap shared, the dire need to sustain tension (“I kept taking very specific notes and showing the film at different stages to different people — asking, were you feeling relaxed here? Were you getting out of the film at this point?” she told The Hollywood Reporter). Such interventions can result in assembly-line products, and Accused is the recent casualty.

When I watched the teaser for Anubhuti Kashyap’s Accused about a week ago, my first reaction was that of excitement. But almost reflexively, I tempered my expectations. Decades of being let down by Hindi cinema can do this. The teaser reminded me of Todd Field’s Tár – starring Cate Blanchett, playing a renowned conductor, whose mythical brilliance on stage is punctured by her indiscretions. It makes sense that the actor tasked with conveying the moral ambiguities and unpleasantness of the subject is Konkona Sen Sharma. The farthest thing in physicality and style – the only thing overlapping Sen Sharma and Blanchett, is their fearlessness to look absolutely deplorable on screen without breaking a sweat. Also, I’d enjoyed Kashyap’s last venture, Doctor G (2023), pushing the Ayushmann Khurrana social dramedy in a new direction.

On paper, a woman as a sexual predator sounds rather exciting as a theme. And when that part of a woman accused of sexual transgression is being played by Konkona Sensharma, a gifted actor with chameleon-like malleability, the interest touches another level. In the first few scenes, her abilities as a skilled gynaecologist Dr Geetika are established and her acting chops are on ample display too. The focus shifts to her home where her married partner is a woman, Meera, also a doctor. The beautiful Pratibha Rannta of ‘Laapataa Ladies’ is back and stuns as much in this modern avatar. Yes, we know, same-sex marriages are not allowed in India. The setting here, by the way, is London, where this couple lives and works and is planning to adopt a child.

कुछ साल पहले वर्कप्लेस पर ताकतवर पदों पर बैठे लोगों द्वारा महिला कर्मियों के भयावह शोषण के खिलाफ शुरू हुए #MeToo मूवमेंट ने पूरी दुनिया को झकझोर दिया था। लेकिन हर सिक्के के दो पहलू होते हैं और #MeToo मूवमेंट के इन्हीं तमाम पहलुओं को एक रोचक अंदाज में दिखाती है, अनुभूति कश्यप के डायरेक्‍शन में बनी फिल्म ‘एक्यूज्ड’। OTT प्‍लेटफॉर्म Netflix पर रिलीज इस फिल्‍म में कोंकणा सेन शर्मा और प्रतिभा रांटा लीड रोल में हैं। मानना पड़ेगा कि दोनों की जुगलबंदी तारीफ के काबिल है। कहानी लंदन की एक बेहद काबिल और कामयाब सर्जन डॉ. गीतिका (कोंकणा सेन शर्मा) की है, जो अपनी पार्टनर डॉक्टर मीरा (प्रतिभा रांटा) के साथ खुशहाल जिंदगी जी रही है। महत्वाकांक्षी गीतिका अपने जॉब में भी कामयाबी की सीढ़ियां चढ़ रही है और जल्द ही अस्‍पताल की डीन बनने वाली है। लेकिन तभी उसके खिलाफ लगे यौन दुराचार के आरोप सामने आते हैं। यह आरोप उसकी निजी और कामकाजी, दोनों ही जिंदगी को तबाह कर देते हैं।

Celebrated surgeon Geetika Sen sees her life collapse after anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct surface at her hospital. As an official inquiry begins and social media outrage intensifies, the mounting suspicion creates a severe crisis of trust between Geetika and her partner, Meera. While fighting to save her career, Geetika must navigate a web of secrets and past professional rivalries to prove her innocence.

At the onset, filmmaker Anubhuti Kashyap’s latest film Accused, featuring Konkona Sen Sharma and Pratibha Rannta as a queer couple in London, feels like a smart thriller that attempts to tell a strikingly new story. Sexual harassment at work and power dynamics in a marriage where both partners are ambitious are tropes well known. Urban romances mostly revolve around two individuals attempting to strike a balance between romance and the regular humdrum of life. However, Kashyap’s film Accused takes the familiar trope but gives it a unique twist. It has a queer couple in focus, with one of them dealing with charges of sexually harassing colleagues at her workplace. Strikingly new plot for Bollywood for sure.