Accused, which has released today on Netflix, is the story of a queer doctor who’s accused of sexual misconduct in her workplace in London. It is directed by Anubhuti Kashyap of Doctor G fame and tells a novel and arresting story. No time is wasted in needless sub-plots; the 106-minute-long film keeps the focus on the principal story. The goings-on keep the viewers intrigued. But soon, the film begins to fall. It’s understandable to show protagonists as flawed, but in Accused, Dr Sen’s actions are such that one might get disgusted. Also, the makers fail to convincingly depict the incident. Ideally, such a case would have attracted nationwide attention, since it involves a queer professional, that too from India. But in the film, all we see is little trolling happening on social media and just one random podcaster taking an interest in the case. The finale is a bit predictable. Konkona Sen Sharma rises above the script and, as expected, rocks the show. Pratibha Rannta proves Laapataa Ladies was not a fluke and delivers a compelling performance. Mashhoor Amrohi (Jaideep Bhargav) gets the annoying act right. Kallirroi Tziafeta (Sophie), Monica Mahendru (Simran) and Sukant Goel (Mansoor) do well in supporting roles. All in all, Accused is not upto the mark.
My rating – ** out of 5!