Mrs. Deshpande

Story:

Nagesh Kukunoor is the director of the 2025 Hindi-language Indian murder thriller television series Mrs. Deshpande on Jio Hotstar. The series, which is an adaptation of the popular French miniseries La Mante, is produced by Elahe Hiptoola, Sameer Nair, and Deepak Segal under the banner Applause Entertainment and Kukunoor Movies. Madhuri Dixit plays serial killer Mrs. Despande, while Siddharth Chandekar, Priyanshu Chatterjee, and Diksha Juneja play crucial supporting roles. On December 19, 2025, it made its debut on Jio Hotstar.

Plot

Following the discovery of three victims who were strangled with nylon ropes, Mumbai is in a state of terror. Every body is placed in front of a mirror, and artificial glue is used to keep the eyes open. IPS officer Arun Khatri is instantly reminded of a string of eight serial killings that took place in Pune 25 years prior by this peculiar pattern. Arun was in charge of the investigation at the time, which resulted in the arrest of Zeenat, also known as Seema Deshpande, who is currently being held in Hyderabad Jail under a false identity.

Arun meets Seema in prison and verifies that she is still behind bars. She indicates the presence of a copycat killer while denying any role in the recent killings. On certain terms, she offers to help with the investigation. Back in Mumbai, a man named Raghu is detained while delivering drugs; later, it is discovered that he is an undercover ACP Tejas Phadke. Tejas is given the task of spearheading the investigation into the copycat killings by Arun, who also divulges classified documents that show Seema has admitted to all eight Pune murders. She had demanded that all records of “Seema Deshpande” be destroyed, her identity erased, and her husband’s death staged. Later, she was moved to Hyderabad Jail and given the name Zeenat.

Seema is secretly moved to Mumbai and kept under constant observation at a remote police residence. She affirms that the current killings are perfect duplicates of her own actions when shown pictures of them. Despite Tejas’s protests, Arun grants her request to prepare her own meals at the bungalow.

Tejas’s intimate relationship with his maternal grandfather, affectionately known as Azoba, who reared him following the deaths of his parents—his father from cancer and his mother in a car accident—introduces his personal life. Tejas resides with his spouse, Tanvi, who, together with her close friend Divya Gokhale, co-owns TanD.

Tejas learns that Seema’s initial case files were only accessible to seven individuals. Only Arun, Tejas, and Advocate Daruwalla remain alive after the deaths of the other four. Suspicion is placed on Daruwalla’s nephew Hosh after his copy of the material disappears. Tejas discovers letters that Hosh and Seema exchanged while she was incarcerated. Hosh requests to meet Seema after abducting his fourth target. Hosh is ruled out as the copycat killer after exhibiting erratic behavior during their observed interaction and ultimately taking his own life after being psychologically provoked by Seema.

As the inquiry progresses, a previously unreported murder that matched the strangulation pattern and was perpetrated months before to the Mumbai killings is discovered. Seema’s first murder is revealed in a flashback to 1997. Seema lived with her young boy and operated a small restaurant out of her house. She was sexually harassed and abused by Joseph, a frequent client, who tried to rape her close to a well and burned her with cigarettes. Seema killed Joseph by strangling him with a nylon rope out of desperation. After seeing the aftermath, her father assisted her in disposing of the body by tossing it into the well, which was sealed overnight. Later, Seema adopted Alex, Joseph’s orphaned son. This event served as the psychological basis for her subsequent offenses.

Back in the present, Seema uses mushroom powder that she had surreptitiously taken with her to sedate a number of the bungalow’s guards before making her getaway. She makes a quick stop at Tejas’s house and then TanD salon, causing concern. When Tejas confronts Seema in a jungle, she tells him that Tejas is actually her biological son. As part of her agreement to help, she had purposefully made sure he was involved in the investigation. Tejas withdraws from the case after becoming saddened.

Later on, Tejas finds out that Alex, who is now an adult, has reconnected with him and describes Seema as a caring, protective mother. Tejas’s opinion on Seema is softened by Alex’s presence. However, the copycat killer quickly murders Alex using the same ritualistic technique, severely upsetting Tejas and Seema.

According to the study, Zylocomp Technologies, a now-defunct company, had digitized Seema’s data years prior. Soon after, the murderer makes direct communication with Seema, referring to her as his “Guru” and referring to himself as her “Shishya” (disciple). Shishya, who is initially thought to be male, claims to share Seema’s ideology but exhibits uncertainty and a lack of moral clarity. Seema understands that Shishya kills randomly, but her own murders were motivated by a perverted sense of justice.

Shefali, a transgender woman, is identified as the attacker following an unsuccessful murder attempt. Flashbacks show Seema’s second murder, in which she killed an abusive father in order to shield Suhas Gokhale, his child. After researching Suhas’s past, Tejas comes to the conclusion that Suhas underwent a transition and is currently residing as Tanvi’s close friend Divya Gokhale.

Driven by childhood abuse, gender identity, failed relationships, and fixation with Seema, Divya abducts Tanvi and reveals herself as the copycat killer. In an attempt to save Tanvi, Seema offers herself as bait. Divya and Seema flee to an abandoned building in spite of police observation. There, Divya admits to using Seema’s psychological assessments from Hyderabad Jail as a model for her own misdeeds.

Tejas’s team uses evidence connected to Zylocomp to trace Divya. Divya is mortally injured while assisting Seema in escaping during a conflict. Tejas finds a suppressed psychological report at Divya’s house that shows his Azoba killed Seema’s mother in order to silence her after raping her when she was a teenager. Tejas is shattered by the truth. Azoba kills herself when confronted. Seema is brought back to the jail in Hyderabad. She escapes during the trip once more, leaving Tejas chained to his driving wheel and lost in doubt.