Hasmukh will stream on Netflix from April 17.

Ranvir Shorey’s next Hasmukh, a Netflix original web series led by comedian-actor Vir Das, is a dark comedy. Helmed by Nikhil Gonsalves, it has Shorey playing the role of Hasmukh’s (Das) manager Jimmy. For Shorey, the web series is a “weird mix of dark content and comedy”.

“Some of the moments of Hasmukh were really awkward as we were dealing with murder, deaths and comedy together,” the actor said as he joined the readers of The Indian Express for a Facebook live session.

Hasmukh is the story of Hasmukh Sudiya, played by Vir Das. He is a comedian and a vigilante serial killer. If he doesn’t kill, his performance on stage suffers. According to its co-creator Nikkhil Advani, the web series ‘is a tale of morality versus ambition.’

Talking about his character Jimmy, Ranvir Shorey shared, “Jimmy is a scumbag who has a golden heart along with golden teeth. Hasmukh and Jimmy’s relationship is important and drives the story.”

Shorey enjoyed his time working on Hasmukh. The show brought him back with Nikkhil Advani and Vir Das whom he has known for quite some time now.

“Director Nikhil Gonsalves is an absolute sweetheart and is a joy to work with. It was a fun shoot. The web series has a dark theme but it is a comedy. We had to walk a thin line where if we missed it, it could have gotten more serious than required or could have become funnier spoiling the essence of the story,” the actor said.

He added, “I remember working with Vir from the Great Indian Comedy Show. He has always been extremely talented, bright and fun to work with. He is also fun to hang out with. It’s always good to work with people who are easy to work with. It makes your job easier.”

Ranvir Shorey, who has worked in a few web series including Rangbaaz and Sacred Games, believes the OTT platforms has given actors more scope to perform. He remarked, “Web series gives more scope of performance because you get longer screen time to portray your part. In comparison to 1.5-2 hours in films, here you get 3-4 hours to flesh out a character unless you are doing a role like I did in Sacred Games 2. There I had to establish a character in just six scenes which is very difficult.”

Starring Manoj Pahwa, Ravi Kishan, Amrita Bagchi, Suhail Nayyar, Inaamulhaq and Raza Murad, Hasmukh will stream on Netflix from April 17. Apart from Hasmukh, Shorey is looking forward to the release of his film Lootcase and a couple of web series he shot last year.