When making a series based on a real-life character, one has to maintain a fine balance between authenticity and dramatisation. That was Randeep Hooda and director Neerraj Pathak’s top priority as they set out to create Inspector Avinash, which chronicles police officer Avinash Mishra’s efforts in the ’90s to curb the mafia dominance and illegal arms trade in Uttar Pradesh. The duo, eager to offer an entertaining yet honest depiction of the cop in JioCinema’s maiden web series, roped in Mishra in the early stages of the project.

Pathak says that regular meetings with Mishra allowed him to delve into his world and incorporate his traits into the script. “Avinash-ji gave me complete freedom [when it came to scripting]. He said, ‘I have told you my story. Now, you write the reel story that you want to tell.’ The narrative is about him, but it has a lot of other important characters,” says the director, who spent three years on the offering.