01 March,2026 08:36 AM IST | Mumbai | Akshita Maheshwari
Accused came out on February 27. Pic/Instagram
It's been close to a decade since the MeToo movement started. In those couple of years, we saw multiple superstars be taken down for actions that had become all too normalised in the industry. Ten years or so later, director Anubhuti Kashyap flips the concept on its head by putting a woman's head on the gallows, with her new film Accused which released this week. We sit down with the makers and actors and ask: Why should you watch this film?
Kashyap's previous works include Doctor G (2022), a movie about a medical student who becomes the only man in the gynaecology department of his college. Accused presents us with Dr Geetika (Konkona Sen Sharma), an esteemed gynaecologist in London who lives with her partner Meera (Pratibha Rannta). "What's the obsession with gynaecologists?" we ask Kashyap. She breaks into laughter, "I tried really hard not to, but that's the only profession that fit."
And why exactly is that? Accused is a study on cancel culture, how a relationship falls apart when Dr Geetika is accused of sexual harassment. "Many women are very senior gynaecologists. I wanted audiences to accept without hesitation that she is a powerful, celebrated gynaecologist. Plus, as a gynaecologist, she is constantly surrounded by women."
The story is a take on the principle: innocent until proven guilty. Dr Geetika is stern; she takes pleasure in berating male gynaecologists who mess up at the job; she holds those under her to high standards, and isn't shy to humiliate them when they don't meet them. And yet, she is excellent at her job, and the youngest one to be where she is. So when she is accused of sexual harassment, the audience is quick to judge her. She was always unlikable, after all.
That's what attracted Konkona Sen Sharma to the role. She says, "It's interesting to break those assumptions down and examine why we hold these biases. Someone accused of sexual harassment could be unpleasant and still be innocent, or they could be a terrible person and still be guilty."
The fun was in playing someone so dissimilar to her. "Geetika doesn't really care what the world thinks about her, which is actually admirable. She has traits we often associate with patriarchal behaviour. She can be dominating, rude, overbearing at times. I really enjoyed playing that and weaving those dynamics into the relationship," Sharma says.
Another interesting element is the central relationship between two women. The film puts forward the queer relationship just like any other one, without making a great hoo-ha. "That's why we based the film in the UK. If we had done it in India, we couldn't have treated it so casually. We would have had to make a statement about it," says Kashyap.
Pratibha Rannta found Meera interesting because she is stuck at a crossroads. What is it like to be with someone who is going through a cancellation? If the world doesn't trust her, how can she? "We all go through situations where there's a lack of trust. You want to be there for your partner but you're not able to. The relationship felt very real, and that drew me in," she says.
Creative head at Netflix Ruchika Kapoor Sheikh is proud to present a film with a woman in the director's chair, as well as that of both leads. She says, "When dealing with a subject like MeToo [movement], there's always a temptation for it to become scandalous. It takes a woman's voice to bring honesty and vulnerability to it. I don't want to stereotype gender, but her [Kashyap's] perspective really shaped the tone."
And what do they hope audiences take away? Sharma says, "People should not conflate innocence or guilt with whether they like a person. Facts and opinions are different things. Discovering truth takes time, nuance, and context." Kashyap adds, "In today's cancel culture, we jump to conclusions very quickly. I hope people hold back their biases and wait for facts before forming conclusions."
Well, we hope for the same for this film. Check it out on Netflix.
In 2022, Cate Blanchett starrer Tár shows renowned musician Lydia Tár as a sexual predator who abuses her position and grooms young women in her mentorship program for sexual favours, blacklists those who dissent.
