By Ahana Bhattacharya

Mumbai, Mar 15 (IANS): Actor Raqesh Bapat makes his digital debut with the web series Assi Nabbe Poore Sau. In the series, Raqesh essays a grey character that is in total contrast to his chocolate-boy image.

"My character Junaid Alam is a devil trapped in a human body. To bring grief into the lives of 100 mothers was his motive. As shady as the character sketch may look like, the innocence on his face couldn't make anyone believe that he could pull out such a heinous crime. He has multi-layers to his character," Raqesh told IANS:

Divulging details about the story, the actor added: "How can a person think of doing something like this? Was he ever sympathetic to the mothers of those 100 children? What was the court's judgment at the end of the day? All these questions will be answered in the show."

Why did he choose this character for his digital debut? "To begin with, the character is so dark, it made me think twice to even sign the show. I have always been the boy next door, and to become an evil mastermind was something that I could never think of. But, when Akshay Singh, my director, who has also acted in the show, came to me with research so in-depth, and showed so much faith in me, it was time for me to pull my socks!" he replied.

Raqesh reveals feeling "devastated" during the shoot because he loves kids in real life.

He said: "One cannot think of being sympathetic to a person like this. To understand the hook of the character, I consulted a psychologist who made me understand what goes through a person's mind that commits such a crime, his philosophy. Yes, the mindset of the character did make me angry because I am someone who loves kids."

Directed by Akshay Singh, the series also stars Aastha Chaudhary. Assi Nabbe Poore Sau streams on Ullu app.