‘Mrs Deshpande’ Review: Madhuri Dixit’s Whodunnit Series Is Let Down by Its Ordinary Framing (LatestLY Exclusive)

Mrs Deshpande Review: Like with most JioHotstar series, Mrs Deshpande is also a remake of a foreign show. This time, the source material is Le Mante (The Mantis), a French mini-series from 2017. The responsibility of adapting it for a Hindi-speaking audience falls on Nagesh Kukunoor, who is fresh off the acclaim for The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case. 'Mrs. Deshpande' Teaser: Madhuri Dixit Captivates in New OTT Psychological Thriller, Netizens React (Watch Video).

With JioHotstar having already given veteran actresses like Sushmita Sen, Raveena Tandon, Kajol and Konkona Sen Sharma meaty headline vehicles, it is now Madhuri Dixit’s turn to anchor a thriller series.

'Mrs Deshpande' Review - The Plot

Dixit plays Mrs Deshpande, a serial killer who has been behind bars for two decades. When a copycat killer begins recreating her methods in Mumbai, top cop Arun Khatri (Priyanshu Chatterjee), the officer who arrested her years ago, is both disturbed and intrigued. With no other viable leads, he reluctantly brings Deshpande in as a 'consultant' to help decode the crimes.

Watch the Trailer of 'Mrs Deshpande':

He also assigns Inspector Tejas Phadke (Siddharth Chandekar) to the case. Tejas shares a deeply uneasy equation with Deshpande, who develops a peculiar, unsettling fascination with the young officer, while carrying her own cache of secrets. The central question looms steadily: is the new killer acting independently, or is this an elaborate scheme engineered by Deshpande herself to stage a grand escape?

'Mrs Deshpande' Review - Keeps The Mystery Restricted to One Season

Starting with the positives, and it is telling that this needs to be underlined, Mrs Deshpande shows a basic narrative decency that is often missing from the platform’s recent output. Even though the season ends on a cliffhanger, it provides a reasonably complete arc for the mystery it sets out to solve.

Additionally, the show does not feel like a hastily assembled product, a charge that can be levelled at more than a few JioHotstar originals of late, with Search: The Naina Murder Case being a particularly recent offender.

'Mrs Deshpande' Review - Ordinary Making

That said, Kukunoor’s direction here feels surprisingly perfunctory. There is an air of detachment to the proceedings, as though the show has been overseen rather than actively shaped by its creator. The underlying mystery and the use of red herrings do enough to keep the narrative moving, at least in the early stretch. The twist in the third episode is genuinely effective, particularly if one is unfamiliar with the original series, and it momentarily elevates the suspense.

Post that reveal, however, the show begins to slip into melodrama. For about mid-way, Mrs Deshpande manages to hold attention, even as narrative hurdles start appearing with increasing frequency. The writing across characters remains largely pedestrian. Mrs Deshpande herself is the most compelling figure, which inadvertently highlights how underwritten the rest of the ensemble is. She is introduced as an enigmatic presence with ambiguous, potentially dangerous intentions. Her interactions with Tejas are framed in a way that consciously evokes a Hannibal dynamic, inviting comparisons between Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham. A standout scene, where she exposes a red herring’s lies and psychologically dismantles him, reinforces the intrigue surrounding her persona.

Unfortunately, once the mid-series twist is in place, the moral ambiguity that defined Deshpande begins to erode. The grey zones of her character are flattened, and what initially made her compelling gives way to an awkward relationship drama that significantly dulls the show’s edge. The series also makes a questionable attempt to sanitise her past by recasting her as a vigilante figure, without adequately exploring the psychological trajectory that leads her to serial killing. While it is revealed that her first victim was not murdered by choice, the narrative never convincingly explains why she continues down that path thereafter. On a smaller but persistent note, the insistence on referring to her as 'Mrs Deshpande' within the narrative feels oddly reverential. For a convicted serial killer, the formality borders on tonal confusion. ‘Search: The Naina Murder’ Case Review: Konkona Sensharma Anchors a Plaintive Murder-Mystery Further Undone by Its Cliffhanger Finale.

'Mrs Deshpande' Review - The Lazy Final Stretch

The eventual killer reveal suffers from a dual problem. Firstly, the identity is far too easy to deduce well before the protagonists catch on, largely due to clumsy staging and overly telegraphed interactions. Foreshadowing is welcome; spoon-feeding is not. Secondly, the motive behind the killings veers into problematic territory. Without delving too deeply into spoilers, the reasoning involves an LGBTQ angle. While the series verbally distances itself from blaming that identity, the visual and narrative coding undermines this clarification, making the explanation feel weak and poorly thought through.

Matters worsen in the final stretch, where the depiction of events surrounding the reveal, and the antagonist’s subsequent actions, strain credibility to an almost laughable degree. The ease with which the killer escapes police custody - twice at that - leans heavily on narrative convenience. The last-act twist, instead of adding depth, feels gratuitous, existing purely for shock value rather than organic storytelling.

'Mrs Deshpande' Review - Madhuri Dixit Makes It Watchable

Ultimately, the most compelling reason to watch Mrs Deshpande is Madhuri Dixit. While this may not rank among her finest performances, her ability to oscillate between a quietly menacing force and a disarmingly gentle presence is effective. The rest of the cast fares less well. Siddharth Chandekar is serviceable but unremarkable, while Priyanshu Chatterjee maintains a stiff, largely functional presence, with his character primarily existing to facilitate plot movement rather than drive it.

'Mrs Deshpande' Review - Final Thoughts

Mrs Deshpande is a series that promises more than it delivers, saved largely by its lead actor rather than the strength of its writing or direction. The premise is intriguing, there are a couple of good twists, but Kukunoor's surprisingly flat direction and writing, and some ordinary performances from the supporting cast do the show little favour. Mrs Deshpande is streaming on JioHotstar.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 19, 2025 09:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).