Mrs Undercover Movie Review Rating:
Star Cast: Radhika Apte, Sumeet Vyas, Rajesh Sharma, and ensemble.
Director: Anushree Mehta.
What’s Good: An earnest Radhika Apte trying to weave this tonally confusing movie into a consistent narrative.
What’s Bad: the very confusion that makes the film travel through thriller, comedy, and satire while doing justice to none.
Loo Break: It’s an OTT release, so maybe pause is an option. But incase it isn’t, you can quickly make a run because there is no rocket science on the screen to decode.
Watch or Not?: Strictly if you do not have any other options or don’t expect much from a movie you invest in.
Language: Hindi (with subtitles).
Available On: Zee5
Runtime: 107 Minutes.
User Rating:
A serial killer who goes by the name ‘Common Man’ (Sumeet) is set loose as he goes on to kill 17 independent women who endorse empowerment. The Special Force recruited by the government is panicking because he has also killed their secret agents. Now only one is left who has the responsibility to bust the killer. It is none other than Durga (Radhika).
Mrs Undercover Movie Review: Script Analysis
Comedy-satires have become the flavour of the season for the past couple of years. To crack a near-perfect film in the genre is a very tricky part when it comes to the balance. The biggest trick to make them tonally work is the absence of a physical villain and the inclusion of a situational one. It is always the situational ones that mostly work, unless someone writes a hopelessly interesting antagonist character and weaves it well in the narrative. Mrs. Undercover suffers the latter problem because it tries the opposite.
Written by Anushree Mehta with Abir Sengupta’s help on additional screenplay and dialogues, Mrs. Undercover enters the territory with a very good intent. It wants to challenge the misogyny ingrained in some chauvinists and question the resistance of a section of the society against progressing women. But only if the intent could make films work, we could never have had an underperforming movie. The most significant blow to the core of this Apte Starrer is the fact that it forgets to stick to one genre and tries to blend into many. It begins as a thriller, and navigates towards comedy, only to end with a monologue concluding a satire.
Nothing wrong in doing so, but there is an art of balancing all of the pretty well, that is missing here. Because one cannot expect a film with an antagonist as heinous and serious as one killing 17 women in the most brutal manner, to sub verge into comedy. Because the opening sequence of Vyas killing a lady in the most brutal manner by crushing her under his cars over 9 times, all shown, doesn’t in the rarest dream makes way for even a hint of comedy. So when Radhika as Durga enters the show and the comic aspect of her life is unfolded, it bothers because now going back to Vyas’ part is going to be difficult.
Mrs. Undercover, minus the gory aspect, is actually fun. The way Radhika Apte learns and rescues stuff, or her theatrics that make Durga extremely likable, make for a breezy watch where one isn’t expecting much but also enjoying. But then it is not the only aspect, and one has to watch the movie as a whole. The last act of the film comes in rushing like it was waiting near the wings and was desperate to be in the centre. It all just ends up making the movie a surface level drama that never really explores its hero like it should. Wish it was more well edged.
Mrs Undercover Movie Review: Star Performance
Radhika Apte in her sarees and occasional Black Widow-type suits, is likable. The actor has a gift of making characters organic without visually doing much, and she manages that yet again. Action doesn’t come across as a strong point but she still manages to sell it because the character has been out of training for a decade.
Sumeet Vyas is trying too hard to be a villain, and this is his second attempt at playing an antagonist. This is not the trait that comes naturally to him. Yes, he manages to make it work till a point but the good man in him eventually peeps out, and you can see that very clearly.
Rajesh Sharma’s approach to the Special Force chief is so comical that you cannot take him and his eco system seriously at all. Because there comes a point where you have to but the journey so far doesn’t let you at all.
Mrs Undercover Movie Review: Direction, Music
Anushree Mehta tries to encapsulate a lot in Mrs. Undercover but the balance goes off entirely. There is good in the movie and one can see that too, but walking past the loopholes is also very difficult. Partnering with DOP Abhimanyu Sengupta, they together create very staple visuals that look made up to make you feel a certain way very forcefully. The music is not a strong point, and neither has a pivotal part to play in the narrative.
Mrs Undercover Movie Review: The Last Word
Mrs. Undercover is a very under-baked product that is confused about its tonality and fails to find a voice.
Mrs Undercover Trailer
Mrs Undercover releases on 14th April, 2023.
