Madhuri Dixit's new web series after The Fame Game (2022) sees her playing Seema Deshpande, a former restaurateur with a worrying appetite for murder. Although Seema has killed eight people, she has been convicted for only one of the crimes.
Seema is serving out her sentence, running the prison kitchen and practising yoga, when Mumbai's Commissioner of Police Arun (Priyanshu Chatterjee) asks for her help. A new serial killer is on the loose, with a modus operandi identical to Seema's. Arun assigns police inspector Tejas (Siddharth Chandekar) to take Seema's assistance in identifying the killer. While Arun is incredibly - and implausibly - soft on Seema, Tejas is wary, convinced that Seema is faking her concern and using the police to plot her escape.
The Hindi series Mrs Deshpande on JioHotstar is based on the French show La Mante. Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor and co-written by him and Rohit Banawlikar, Mrs Deshpande is stuffed with the masala with which Seema laces her delicious dishes.
There are numerous twists in store as Tejas, relying on uncannily accurate advice from Seema, runs through a list of possible suspects. Tejas's involvement in the case bothers his wife Tanvi (Diksha Juneja) and his grandfather Dinanath (Pradeep Welankar). Even Diksha's friend Divya (Nimisha Nair) is not left untouched by the investigation.
The six-episode series has enough contrivances to keep the pot simmering. Arun isn't the only one who treats Seema like an angel, rather than an emissary of death. The show is disinterested in learning more than is necessary about Seema, just so that the plot may be nudged forward.
On paper, Seema appears to be a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Dexter Morgan. In reality, she is Madhuri Dixit.
The show rides on the possibility that the pleasing visage that comes with a mega-watt smile conceals a calculating and remorseless criminal. Madhuri Dixit as a serial killer: a big draw of Mrs Deshpande. Madhuri Dixit plays a serial killer: the chief draw of Mrs Deshpande.
Dixit's charisma is most strongly felt in the scenes when she persuades people into giving themselves away. Otherwise, Dixit is hard-pressed to play a woman with a complicated inner life and deep secrets. The range of expression needed to bring out Seema's turmoil escapes Dixit's super-firm cheek muscles. Since Mrs Deshpande too plays out on the surface, Dixit gets by.
Siddharth Chandekar puts in more work as Tejas, with the result his character is altogether more interesting, at least in the early episodes. None of the other actors stands out, leaving the field to Dixit and Chandekar.
One of the show's themes, that love makes you forget but cruelty forces you to remember, is used as a writing crutch rather than an opportunity to find out why people commit horrible crimes. Arun's admiration for Seema's vigilante methods is adopted by Mrs Deshpande too, resulting in a show that coasts along on star power and the anticipation of Seema's next brilliant move.
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