Anushree Mehta on 'Mrs Undercover': It doesn't matter what gender the lead belongs to; viewers are intelligent

Mrs Undercover is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language spy comedy movie directed by Anushree Mehta and produced by Abir Sengupta, Anushree Mehta, Varun Bajaj, Ishan Saksena and Sunil Shah. The film stars Radhika Apte, Sumeet Vyas and Rajesh Sharma in key roles. Amid the release of the film India Forums got in touch with the director Anushree and chatted with her on different subjects. 

When asked, housewives are always undermined in our society and in cinema. What prompted you to base a film on a housewife's strength, resilience and power?

To this, she replied, 

"We all know that a woman is a multitasker, and a housewife is a true personification of MAA DURGA, like how she has ten hands which imply that she can do ten things at a time. Similarly, a housewife can handle and perform multiple things at a time. I have grown up in the most typical middle-class Indian society and have observed how thankless a housewife's role remains in the end. That is when I decided that I needed to pay my respect to this unsung hero and tell the world that a housewife is never just a housewife."

We further questioned, while male-centric characters monopolize espionage movies, what made you base this film on a female lead? And since most viewership for espionage movies comes from male viewers, are they ready to take back the message you are trying to give?

Talking about this, she said, 

"History proves that women have been the most brilliant spies of all time. Be it, Mata Hari or Virginia Hall, women have proved across centuries that they can be the best spies. There used to be a time when society used to pull women down and forcefully make them stay at home but with changing times and women leading the way in a lot of fields, it was high time that a woman protagonist headlined the spy film and I think our viewers are very intelligent and we shouldn't underestimate them at any point like how the society for decades have underestimated women."

She further said, "If it's a good story backed with some lovely performances, the audience will log in and watch the film. It doesn't matter what gender the lead belongs to, audiences pay to get entertained, and my film is a full paisa vasool movie."

The film is all set to stream on April 15 on ZEE5.