Accused
Starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Pratibha Rannta
Directed by Anubhuti Kashyap
A reviewer wrote that Konkona Sen’s character doesn’t have a surname. She does. Identity is not in crisis in Accused. Reputation is.
I like the way director Anubhuti Kashyap sets up her sinister yet sanitized scenario. What if the alleged perpetrator is a woman, and what if the alleged targets are also women? And what if the alleged perpetrator is a gynaecologist (the protagonist in Ms Kashyap’s last film was also a gyno)?
Accused is a terrific what-if teaser, with loads of insinuations that never quite land on their feet. This is a film that has more in its head than on the table. This is a pretty film shot in a foreign city, supposedly London, though it doesn’t look like London, which is okay.
Accused is a film where nothing is as it seems.
What sticks beautifully is Dr. Sen’s reckless pursuit of self-justice. No, she doesn’t turn into a vigilante, although a gun does appear at some point. Thankfully, no one uses it.
Geetika’s messy situation is ably countermanded by the beautiful surfaces. Both the heroines, Geetika and her partner Meera (Pratibha Ranta), are immaculately dressed. They look like they have never been to bed, together or separately, never had a day’s problem.
But that’s just a façade. The couple is seriously troubled, what with Geetika prone to prevaricate and conceal. While Konkona remains in charge of her character’s uncertainties, Ranta seems to be way too clueless, and not just as a character. The actor needed a firmer grip on the ground level, which eludes her , maybe while balancing on the high heels.
In fact, Accused suffers from a serious erosion of believable characters. The hospital where Geetika works is populated with doctors who look like they have never been inside an operation theatre. Then there is a detective, played by Sukant Goel, who could do with some serious overhauling.
What works is the protagonist’s selfawareness. Geetika recognizes her fatal flaws. But the self-actualization comes too late. I doubt she can restore her reputation. What she can do is ask the screenwriters why she was not given more time to modify her failings and less time to gripe and scowl at a system that fosters falsehoods.
