Dealing with the issues of modern youth, Mismatched was viewed as India’s answer to the British comedy, Sex Education. Gazal Dhaliwal, who adapted the book, When Dimple Met Rishi, into the Netflix India original, considers it a compliment. “Everyone in the writers’ room loved Sex Education. We were inspired by its storytelling. That said, our story and characters are completely different,” she says of Mismatched that is nominated for Best Series: Romance/Comedy at the mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards.

Dhaliwal relied on the source material as well as her memories when creating the Prajakta Koli and Rohit Saraf-starrer. “I went by my personal experiences of college life. Sandhya Menon’s book was a love story about Dimple and Rishi. To make the show wholesome, my co-writers [Aarsh Vora and Sunayana Kumari] and I created unique characters, and added ideas that matter to us — sexuality, disability, impact of social media, and class difference.”