Mrs. Undercover, the latest spy-comedy from writer-director Anushree Mehta, had all the elements to be a fun-filled roller coaster ride, including the talented Radhika Apte in the lead role. However, the film falls short of expectations and misses the mark due to poor writing, underdeveloped characters, and a lack of focus. Despite Apte’s strong performance, the film fails to deliver on its promise, resulting in a disappointing viewing experience.
Anushree Mehta’s Mrs. Undercover begins with a self-proclaimed woman-hater (Sumeet Vyas) who films a video of his Tinder date and then kills her, repeatedly running over her body with his car until he is sure. Then he proceeds to smoke a cigarette. It’s gruesome and chilling. Then in the next scene, we are introduced to Durga (Radhika Apte) as she takes down multiple goons who are following her at night, only to realize it’s a dream.
Another of those James Bond dreams, asks her husband Deb (Saheb Chatterjee), harping on that she should have dreams about her family and her child for a change. This joke, if anything, lands miserably at the cost of progressive signaling, and goes on to introduce Mrs. Undercover as a film that doesn’t know which box to tick, so it ticks everything.
Radhika Apte’s Mrs Undercover had the potential to be a whacky spy-comedy with hilarious twists and a strong message. It, however, ends up being a mediocre attempt at storytelling that falls flat. Mrs Undercover, written and directed by Anushree Mehta, revolves around a secret agent (Radhika), who is called upon by the special force to take down a notorious serial killer.
Mrs Undercover is a perfect star vehicle for Radhika. It gives her ample scope to flex her muscles, mouth powerful dialogues and even showcase her comic timing. All of this, however, counts for nothing as the writing is all over the place.
Mrs. Undercover attempts to tackle several issues, leaves it unimpressive
The film tries to tackle several issues, right from infidelity to the challenges faced by ‘just a housewife’, all at once. This proves to be its biggest undoing, as none of the subplots has been fleshed out properly. Moreover, most of the characters feel one-dimensional. Their backstories are never really shown in detail, which makes it difficult to relate to them. The director needed to do a better job of constructing the film’s world.
Radhika Apte, who is always a compelling presence, is utterly wasted in a performance that is so riddled with its own tone-deaf characterization that one never fully takes her seriously. If you want your protagonist to practice shooting at a local fair with a gun aiming at water balloons, there’s no further point to be made. Sumeet Vyas, Rajesh Sharma, and Laboni Sarkar are all burdened with underwritten characters without any scope to shine.
Mrs. Undercover hops on from one tone-deaf exposition to another, with tacky, neon-lit production design and hurried editing. The space and the overarching context of Mrs. Undercover, right down to its loud and wobbly denouement, neither has a personality nor curiosity. The disappointment writes itself over in capital letters. Worse of all, it name-drops places in Kolkata in infuriatingly callous ways.