Mumbai, March 1 – Director Anubhuti Kashyap, who is receiving a lot of positive feedback on her recently released streaming film ‘Accused’, has shared how the story came about.
The director spoke with IANS during the film's promotion, and revealed that one of the key factors driving the story is how the accusations of sexual harassment against the lead character affect her relationship with her queer partner.
‘Accused’ tells the story of a woman who is accused of sexually harassing a victim. The film stars Konkona Sen Sharma and Pratibha Ranta in the lead roles.
The director told IANS, “The core idea for the film came from Netflix about creating a story around a woman accused of sexual harassment, and that was the foundation. So, we started researching, and we were surprised to find so many cases where a woman has been accused of sexual harassment, including in India.”
She further added, “We researched, and then we started developing the character, but we essentially began writing a story that focused on the impact of such an accusation on a relationship, and what it does to the person involved. The entire film revolves around the accused person and their relationships and those around them.”
“So, that was really the starting point, and we started from there, evolving the story, and then we developed other characters and how they fit into the narrative. It organically emerged and developed around that,” she added.
Earlier, Anubhuti had shared her initial thoughts on how to approach the story.
She told IANS, “The story and the subject required a specific lens and an empathetic approach. We felt it couldn't be sensationalized. And we consciously made that choice when writing the script. We wanted to focus on the incidents and events that make people uncomfortable, not just the queer relationship, but also the other aspects of the story.”
‘Accused’ is available to stream on Netflix.
