The spy-comedy doesn't tickle any bones

Mrs Undercover (Hindi/Zee5)

Director: Anushree Mehta

Cast: Radhika Apte, Sumeet Vyas, and Rajesh Sharma

Rating: 2/5

There are films and then there are films made just for the sake of it. 'Mrs Undercover' is from the second lot.

The whole concept of a simple Indian housewife, who is in fact a special undercover agent being called back to duty after 10 years, should cause some excitement, but it doesn't.

Durga (Radhika Apte) has been taking care of her thankless husband who is a businessman, her aging in-laws, and a young school-going son, for years. Though she feels unappreciated, she goes on with her household duties, and continues to tell herself that she is "just a housewife". She, however, has a secret — her dreams are packed with action. In her fantasy world, she catches miscreants, giving the viewer a peek into an unfulfilled goal or a hidden identity.

A serial killer, who calls himself Common Man (only he and god know why?), is on the loose. A Special Forces team, led by Chief Rangeela (Rajesh Sharma), has lost all its agents who tried to crack the case. Their only hope is an agent whose details are missing from the system. No points for guessing who that agent is. Rangeela tracks and tries to convince Durga, who is a trained special forces agent, to take up the job. Soon we see the homemaker trying to balance family life and its responsibilities with her new mission. At most points, the so-called jokes do not tickle you or even make you think.

Radhika impresses when she does action sequences — both in a body-hugging outfit and in saris. However, it stops there. There is not much to the storyline, or any of the characters apart from Common Man played by Sumeet Vyas, who is able to scare one as the maniac on a killing spree.

One can hope that the director was trying to give some message — be it of women empowerment, or loyalty in a marriage and so on — but none of these are clear in this debacle.