Star Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Pratibha Rannta, and others
Director: Anubhuti Kashyap
What’s Good: The premise and the stellar act of the lead cast
What’s Bad: The final act
Loo Break: Not Necessary
Watch or Not?: Yes, for the brilliant performances by the cast
Language: Hindi
Available On: Netflix
Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
User Rating:
“Jab aadmi successful hota hai to hum kehte hain deserve karta hai, but when a woman reaches a powerful position, we doubt, aisa kya kiya hoga. Youngest HOD, First Female Dean,” Konkona Sen Sharma raises some very brutal and sharp questions, which we often raise as a society. Women, in fact, powerful and successful women, are the easiest prey for a judgmental society!
Moreover, a lesbian couple, successful and established, is a cherry on top! So Dr. Geetina Sen and Dr. Meera Mishra, a married lesbian couple living abroad, face the hardest time in their lives when one of them is accused of sexual misconduct! But is she the victim or the culprit, forms the entire plot of the latest drama produced by Dharmatic Entertainment!
Accused Movie Review: Script Analysis
The story and the premise of this psychological thriller directed by Anubhuti Kashyap are straight! Konkona Sen Sharma, an established and reputed surgeon, is asked to go low and take a leave from her hospital after a series of emails target and paint her as a sexual offender. An ex-journalist is appointed to investigate the case, and slowly all the circumstances, evidence, and people start going against her, including her spouse, Dr. Meera, played by a brilliant Pratibha Rannta!
Accused Movie Review: Star Performance
Is there anything that Konkona Sen Sharma cannot do? She leads this story as the Accused, and she plays it to perfection! At some point, you might believe that there is something fishy with her! She is the anchor of the film, and she does her job brilliantly! But the surprise here is Pratibha Rannta, who matches Konkona’s brilliance at par! After her stellar work in Laapataa Ladies and Heeramandi, Pratibha proves she is no one-hit wonder. Playing a character that is diametrically opposite to her previous roles, she brings a raw, vulnerable energy to the screen. To stand in a frame with Konkona Sen Sharma and not be overshadowed is a feat in itself, and Pratibha achieves it with grace.
Accused Movie Review: Direction
Anubhuti Kashyap weaves a story that follows a high-profile criminal investigation, which isn’t just about a crime committed, but about the social conditioning that leads to it. Konkona Sen Sharma, who is often termed as a sharp, but rude, and impulsive surgeon, is put on a pedestal and grilled, because her social behavior is too sharp to be believed that she could be the culprit!
At one point, the investigator, Dr. Bhargava, suggests how tricky the case is, since in most MeToo cases, the victim is a woman. He, under the cover, already paints her character as the criminal, without proving her crime, and while she blasts, “Is case mein bhi victim ek aurat hi hai,” you do not want to believe her, and the film successfully delivers what it targets, the bias against sharp, impulsive, and go-getter women!
The suspense in this movie is not something that lets you praise the thrill! You already know that Konkona’s character is being framed! In fact, the basic flaw with psychological thrillers is that you know that the one person, who might be behind all of this, and the one person who is being shown as the suspicious one, would turn out to be clean! I mean, there are no points for guessing this one! In fact, if you follow the plot lines of psychological thrillers, then that one character, who had a blink-and-you-miss appearance, might be the one who is anchoring all the drama! So on that front, the film follows the expected blueprint, and there are no surprises here! Kashyap doesn’t over-explain. She trusts her audience to read between the lines.
Accused Movie Review: The Last Word
The writing focuses on the ‘procedural’ aspect in a way that feels uncomfortably real. It explores the layers of the female experience – how women are often ‘accused’ by society long before they ever step into a courtroom. The pacing is deliberate; it’s a slow burn that asks you to sit with the discomfort of its characters. And this is where the film wins with its very strong performances!
Accused works very well in parts. In fact, the story and the screenplay build up well until the final resolution, which seems to be hurried! The last 15 minutes confuse this psychological thriller as some social drama! Konkona Sen Sharma’s Dr. Geetika highlights some hard truths about the male-female dynamics at work! But most of it narrowly escapes the preachy parameter, and the final act makes the impact of this psychological thriller diminish a bit!
Accused starts as a psychological thriller, but it ends as a very loud and proud commentary on feminism. It never asks who did it; it more importantly asks why society punishes the woman first. It explores the idea of the Victim vs. the Accused in a manner that does not satisfy with its resolution!
3 stars!
Accused Trailer
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