Mrs Deshpande ladders on the psyche of a serial killer. Killings as cold as theirs begin with a lack of remorse and mostly childhood abuse. If history could be read about the serial killers, we find a typical fascination that these killers create in their minds for the crimes they commit. Documentaries are available on YouTube for free, and with rising narcissistic qualities all across the globe, given one’s confinement to their screens, serial killers now intrigue us; they look more appealing, and by the end, you finish these documentaries, you begin to empathise with their innocence. Mrs Deshpande, helmed by Nagesh Kukunoor, and produced by Applause Entertainment and Kukunoor Movies, eventually gives that pound to your heart, and you begin to resonate with the killers’ pain and not see the barbarity behind those Kubrickian icy stares.
Fronted by Madhuri Dixit, this six-episode series—each episode enveloped in 50 minutes approximately—picks on Mrs Deshpande, a breakneck serial killer who, now retired, lends her expertise to the police in tracking down a copycat murderer mirroring her patterns.
Throughout, Madhuri Dixit as Mrs Deshpande shines. Behind bars for 25 years, she still owns the killer’s mind, just with systematic rust, due to a lack of practice, but her short visit to the crime scene ignites her forgotten ‘art’ as she claims. This notion of ‘art’ is a recurring pattern among the most ruthless minds; even Adolf Hitler, and in Mrs Deshpande’s case, she used to be a dancer (adding, when the police chase down the fourth killing of the copycat serial killer, we find the ceiling artwork by the killer, in a way that it reflects the victim’s lifeless face). Yet, beneath this artistic curtain lies an obsessive desire for justice—a twisted moral compass that convinces such individuals of their role as delusional saviours. We understand this better when Mrs Deshpande, with absolute cold disdain, defends her killings by branding her victims as ‘rakshas’ and therefore are undeserving of mercy.
The series Mrs Deshpande stands out with its subtlety to bring awareness of how these crimes and mental health disorders stem from a dismantled childhood. For decades, society has cast aside mental health disorders, and series like these keep bringing light to what needs to be handled with care. Other than that, it also talks about the struggles the LGBTQIA+ community faces.
The series’ setting is clear-sighted, with no tendency to glamorise the protagonist’s stardom. Each episode reveals a layer of mystery, intrigue, and unveiling of the past. The screenplay maintains a grip on the audience, though the narrative culmination arrives rather abruptly.
What we could understand was that it was to immerse Mrs Deshpande (Madhuri Dixit) in shadow, making her embrace of her darkest purpose all the more eerie to watch.
IWMBuzz rates it 3.5 stars.
