Nagesh Kukunoor’s lens has always gravitated towards the road less travelled with films like Rockford, Iqbal, Dor, and Dhanak. These films have consistently set new ground in an industry often driven by conventional formulas. “Filmmakers like me find our little spaces to squeeze in and tell the stories we believe in,” he remarks.
His latest thriller series, Mrs Deshpande, is one such example. Adapted from the French series The Mantis, it is important in many ways, headlined by Madhuri Dixit, who appears in an antagonist role, a rarity in an industry where enemies are overwhelmingly male. For Kukunoor, the appeal lay not just in the gender reversal but in the character’s moral complexity. “When I saw the French series, I could identify with the character and felt strongly that it could translate well in an Indian environment. There has never been a show on Indian screens with a female serial killer. So that was exciting. The second thing, how do you sell Madhuri Dixit, who for four decades has been just one of those truly likeable actors on and off screen.”
As a filmmaker, what also intrigued Kukunoor was the opportunity to move beyond a straightforward portrayal of evil. Mrs Deshpande, he insists, is a character with emotional depth, contradictions, and multiple shades.
As actors increasingly move away from carefully curated screen images and embrace darker, more morally ambiguous roles, the shift has helped reinvent stagnant careers. According to Kukunoor, this growing acceptability has largely been driven by OTT, which has dismantled long-held industry conventions. “Actors have long been denied taking risks owing to the image created by their screen presence. It is emotional, almost personal, for the audience. They can reject a role or an image, saying their screen idol is not this person, and not understand that it’s acting. I think the credit goes to OTT for bringing the audience around to this level of acceptance.” OTT space, he says, gives filmmakers liberty to create without the Friday fear. “I’m able to tell my stories without being terrified if it doesn’t work,” he says.
True to form, Kukunoor shows no signs of settling into a single lane. He is currently juggling two feature films, continuing his long-standing commitment to stories that resist the obvious path.