Exclusive! Mrs Undercover director Anushree Mehta on Radhika Apte: I was surprised with the way she reacted

Watch Mrs. Undercover on OTTPlay.

Actress Radhika Apte is the female protagonist of the upcoming film Mrs. Undercover, which is directed by debutant Anushree Mehta.

Being a new filmmaker, Anushree has been working on the story of the movie since 2017. She waited for a long time to approach her favourite actress Radhika, who she thinks is the perfect choice to play the protagonist in her film. 

Ahead of the release of Mrs Undercover, Anushree shared how Radhika reacted when she narrated the story to her, and why it came as a surprise to her. 

When asked if it was difficult to convince Radhika to agree to be a part of the film, Anushree told OTTplay, "I was surprised with the way she reacted to the story during the narration. My business partner Abir Sengupta and I decided to approach Radhika in March 2020, after finishing scripting. This was three days before India went into a lockdown. Five minutes into the narrations, Radhika very casually said, 'Achha listen, I am doing the film, but you tell me the next scene...' I had to pause for a moment, because I was so surprised."

The director further added, "Usually, with new film directors, especially female ones, actors do a background check to see what we have done professionally and if they have handled any big projects earlier. It makes sense for an actor to do this, as they will be giving us their dates and it is a huge commitment. Considering that Radhika has done many films and series, as well as international projects, I was prepared for her to have such inquiries, and I had no problem with it. But there she was, instinctive and only focused on the story that we intended to tell. She is a real sport and every filmmaker would love to work with her."

The story of Mrs Undercover revolves around Durga, a housewife in a middle-class household who is actually an undercover agent who stops the serial killing of women in Kolkata. 

The film is produced by Abir Sengupta of Jaadugar Films and Anushree Mehta. It also stars Rajesh Sharma, Saheb Chatterjee, Laboni Sarkar, Roshini Bhattacharyya, and Sumeet Vyas.

Mrs Undercover releases on April 14 on ZEE5.