Konkona Sen Sharma: Sensationalism is very easy reward, a quick new cycle

National Award-winning actress Konkona Sen Sharma says sensationalism may bring quick attention, but it often comes at the cost of depth and nuance. The actress, who is currently receiving praise for her performance in the recently released streaming film ‘Accused’, believes the film consciously avoids taking that easy route.

Speaking to IANS during the promotions, Konkona shared that ‘Accused’ steers clear of dramatic exaggeration despite dealing with a sensitive subject. The film follows the story of a woman accused of sexually harassing a victim and stars Konkona alongside Pratibha Ranta in the lead.

“Sensationalism is a very easy reward. It’s a very quick and easy reward and it’s a very quick news cycle. And we’re not looking at that, actually. We’re looking at this as a film with a great deal of nuance and depth and it’s staying away from easy answers,” she said.

Konkona further explained that the film delves deeper into themes of power and human relationships rather than offering simplistic conclusions. “So, it’s really more an exploration of power and exploration of human relationships. What happens to a relationship when it is affected by an accusation like this? How does it unravel? How does it come together? And what were the pre-existing biases that are positive or negative that we have towards a woman in power, towards a queer couple? And how does that affect our judgment of them? So, it’s actually a completely different ballgame altogether,” she added.

Earlier, director Anubhuti Kashyap, who helmed ‘Accused’, had spoken about the sensitive lens required to narrate the story. She emphasized that the subject demanded an empathetic and thoughtful treatment rather than sensationalism.

“The story, the subject was such that it always needed a certain lens, a certain empathetic approach towards it. It couldn’t have been sensationalized, is what we felt. And I didn’t see it somehow in that lens at all. So, we’ve kept that conscious choice, the treatment while writing the script also. We wanted to tell incidents in the story, events that make people uncomfortable in parts, not the queer relationship, but a lot of other things that were happening in the core of the story. So that was one of the guidelines,” Anubhuti shared.

‘Accused’ is currently streaming on Netflix.