Billed as a spy comedy, the ZEE5 Original film Mrs Undercover presents Radhika Apte in a never-seen-before avatar as an undercover agent moonlighting as a homemaker. Directed and written by Anushree Mehta, Mrs Undercover also stars Sumeet Vyas, Rajesh Sharma and Shaheb Chatterjee. Radhika tells us about how her character in Mrs Undercover not only takes on the bad guys but patriarchy too.

You mentioned that you fell in love with your character, Durga, in Mrs Undercover the minute you heard the script. What did you love about her?

Radhika Apte: I think the premise of the film was really exciting for me. We live in a country where there is a lot of patriarchy and so many women slog their ass off day and night to keep their families happy, fed and yet go unnoticed. I think it did resonate with me and what I like about Durga is her innocence, her naivety, her clumsiness and even her journey of discovering herself and I think that was really good.

Mrs Undercover shows that a housewife is never given due credit. What do you think can lead to a shift in this mentality?

Radhika Apte: I think household chores are always looked down upon. I quite often find it very bizarre how a lot of Indian men cannot cook for themselves, and it is changing a little bit and it’s laughable that this is actually looked down upon. I think household chores require hard work — to do it every day, constantly, and more than that, not to get acknowledged for it. Of course, I do feel that women should have the right to choose to be a housewife and also have the freedom to choose their careers. The more women stand up for themselves and fight for their rights, more men will also fight for the rights of women and I think that’s when things will change.

You’ve been doing shows and films for OTT since the concept came into existence. How do you think OTT has evolved since then?

Radhika Apte: OTT has become the new TV, hasn’t it? Although OTT has brought so much content and the world is such a small place when it comes to content and viewing things, which I really enjoy, it is also impossible to watch all of the content. A lot of content is replacing TV. There are lots of benefits of course, like employment opportunities, which is fantastic. I personally love OTT because there is so much I can view sitting at home.

You are also seen doing action in the film. Were there any challenges that you faced?

Radhika Apte: I did face challenges. We didn’t have enough time to rehearse, so there were a few movements that were quite difficult. But I absolutely loved doing action and had such a great time shooting that sequence. I just wish there was more action in the film and that I get to do more action in the future.