Anushree Mehta on Mrs. Undercover starring Radhika Apte: I came up with the Idea 5 Years Ago

In a recent media interview with IANS, director Anushree Mehta spoke about her upcoming spy comedy film headlined by Radhika Apte who plays the role of an undercover agent and also shared how the idea was conceived and found Apte to be the perfect fit for the role.

Talking about the story idea, she said, "I came up with the idea of Mrs. Undercover one fine morning almost five years ago. That very day I shared the same idea with my producing partner, Abir Sengupta, and he jumped at the idea and said it's a banger of an idea and promised me that he would produce the film the moment I finished the script. And he obviously kept his promise."

She continued to talk about the character and if she saw someone in reality like Durga, she added, "A filmmaker always draws references from what he or she sees in their own lives, reads or observes which impact them in some way. I grew up in a middle-class household where my mother is a housewife, a homemaker. And ever since I was a little baby, I've seen her doing so many things at the same time, so meticulously without a day off or without any sort of appreciation, that I always wondered how can one person do so much and still not shy away from doing more?"

Mehta further recalled working with Apte during the lockdown and interacting with her through Zoom as she was in London and the former in Mumbai.

"I had prepped with Radhika during the lockdown because she was in London and I was in Mumbai, but we were so into the film that all my meetings happened over zoom calls. I actually met Radhika for the second time in my life right at the look test of the film, the first time being when I met her and narrated my film to her at her residence. But when I met her at the look test, I realised how much in sync we both were."

"That time I knew my shoot would definitely be a banger of a shoot. For my first film, I had never imagined that I would have to prepare remotely, and I was genuinely scared. But with Radhika's involvement in the film with me, everything became really, really awesome. And we had a lovely shooting time together," she added.

Mrs. Undercover has been written and directed by Mehta and produced by Abir Sengupta and Mehta. The film will be released on Zee5 from April 14.