Mrs Undercover: This lady officer delivers, but only just!

Spy comedy genre is a very potential-laden one for its ability to blend the fun of cat and mouse tactics with the goofy antics of the lead characters. The Zee 5 OTT release 'Mrs Undercover', released on Friday last, attempts to do just that, with Radhika Apte playing the undercover officer-turned-housewife asked to return to her old role to stop a serial killer who specialises in eliminating strong, self-made, ambitious women. Aiming to accommodate the angst of housewives who are exploited and made to feel worthless in a milieu where women are not surely valued on par with men (and also showcasing what they actually can if they are placed on a level-playing field), director Anushree Mehta has her task made easy with Apte essaying the lead role. That's the only saving grace of the film with a running time of less than two hours.

With the male law and order cops failing to make the cut as the killer identifies and kills them one by one, the top brass is left with no other option than to go back to the lady James Bond, who is clumsy, unsure and over-the-top with anxiety as she feels rusty being inactive for a long time. Her undercover family life, domiciled in Kolkata with the metropolitan Bengali life weaved in interestingly, is another impediment as she thinks of herself as more of a homemaker than a gun-toting cop. However, she is successful in her mission and executes it with a heavy dose of woman power boosting her till the end, right from a background score to the songs which are shown to further her cause. Anchoring the narrative on a standard middle-class template, with a noisy, yet considerate mother-in-law, a chauvinistic husband who doesn't hesitate to have a fling when he wishes as he thinks his spouse is 'just a housewife' and the potential seemingly limited for the heroine to raise her abilities to encounter the marauding killer, the film descends to being just a routine drama.

While Radhika has the lioness' share of the screen space, the chilling effect of the killer on the proceedings till the final reel makes this film watchable. In a bid to boost the character of this effective lady cop, falling back on a mere formula-laden narrative, instead of something original significantly reduces the appeal of the venture.