Things and situations that are flawed come out to be thrilling in its own emotional momentum—and when coming from Karan Johar, a piece has to be high on its EQ. Accused, starring Konkona Sen Sharma and Pratibha Ranta, builds on the usual momentum. Konkona Sen Sharma anchored Dr Geetika Sen, a queer London-based gynaecologist, who is on the run to secure a promotion to the Hospital Dean position. Geetika lives with her wife, Dr Meera (Pratibha Ranta), a paediatrician. The film opens with an atmosphere of everyday tranquillity and understated harmony, as the couple navigates their world without casting judgment on those around them.
Tables flip for Geetika, however, as soon as she gets entangled in a spiral of reputation and rumours. Narratives started to shift right in front of her eyes, and all that she built in her career trajectory seemed to fall apart. Geetika goes into a mental agony, soon after an anonymous email claims that she is a sexual predator. Geetika, while perceived as arrogant by the world, is far from arrogant. Geetika is assertive—she speaks with a strength-filled demeanour, she has a strong head—and while the allegations do intimidate her, she builds a rhythm to keep her integrity sharp—for she knows she has the truth. She beholds it as she vows to get all clean. Yes, she has a dark past—but for the world, her past is tea; for Geetika, it’s her testimony.
Meera turns out to be compassionate—supportive of her partner. However, the constant allegations that come in make it difficult for Meera to stand by Geetika. For allegations like that, everything can go on a toss—love, respect, and trust. Meera is vulnerable yet in deep self-doubt, while Geetika keeps up her fight.
What emerges here is a keen observation of how society treats women—particularly those who are assertive and ambitious. For headstrong women, confidence is often misread as arrogance, simply because they are women. In a world still shaped by patriarchal standards, Geetika’s qualifications are overshadowed by her gender; she is deemed unfit for the Dean’s role, not for lack of merit, but because she is a woman—and, paradoxically, considered too young for the position. For women, it seems, you are always either too young or too old—never quite the right age to be worthy. The world is never fair to an ambitious woman (not saying it is always fair to ambitious men)—but for women, the spiral becomes viciously disrespectful.
It’s painful to witness Geetika—a man makes a mess at work; she cleans it up, but she refuses to take advantage of it. Geetika handles it all, taking a back seat. However, Geetika somehow finds herself in a dilemma of self-realisation: she could be abusing her power. But what we felt was that when a woman with dreams gets wrongfully cornered, she sometimes responds this way. Geetika should have pursued her dreams in the end—but with humility.
Directed by Anubhuti Kashyap, written by Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani, produced by Dharmatic Entertainment, Accused is currently streaming on Netflix.
IWMBuzz rates it 3.5 stars.
