Randeep Hooda: Avinashji would be on set every evening

Randeep Hooda on the first day of the shoot

After playing a drug lord in Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai, it's time for Randeep Hooda to tread on the right side of the law. The actor will be seen in the titular role in Neerraj Pathak's web series, Inspector Avinash, which is a dramatic retelling of police officer Avinash Mishra's efforts to tackle criminal activities in Uttar Pradesh. The unit had kicked off the shoot in January in Lucknow before the second wave of the pandemic compelled them to trudge back to Mumbai.

Neerraj Pathak

"One can't sum up inspector Avinash Mishra's life in just five episodes. I quite enjoyed working on long-format storytelling; a series is equivalent to four or five feature films. This format helps you explore more as an actor," says Hooda, who has previously explored the digital medium with the film, Extraction and Mira Nair's A Suitable Boy.

Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Mishra has been a part of the Special Task Force and the Anti-Terrorism Squad, and has contributed successfully to several important cases in Lucknow. Hooda met the real-life hero before beginning work on the project. "I have played a cop in some movies. But for this project, I had to mirror Avinashji's accent and dialect. So, I spent time with him. When we were shooting in Lucknow, he would be on the set every evening." The web series, also featuring Urvashi Rautela, will be shot in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Also Read: Govind Namdev and Randeep Hooda relive old ties on the sets of Inspector Avinash