Actor Darsheel Safary felt personally connected to Raghu, his character in Amazon MX Player’s new six-episode sitcom Gamerlog, he said in a statement.

“I’m an emotional and passionate person, so I really connected with Raghu on a personal level. I wanted to strip away any performative layers and make him feel as real and genuine as possible, because sometimes, in the process of performing, authenticity can slip away. But with Raghu, it just clicked,” said Safary, adding that the portrayal did not feel “naive or stupid but pure”.

Set in a makeshift e-sports bootcamp in Mumbai, the show follows a group of socially awkward young gamers as they chase their shot at winning a tournament while also trying to overcome their psychological turbulence. Directed by Arya Deo, the cast of Gamerlog also includes Anjali Sivaraman, Chinmay Chandraunshuh, Kunal Bhan, Chetan Dhawan, Shubroy Chowdhury and Akash Menon.

Safary noted that his character is a dreamer and to portray it effectively, he had to go back to “a certain raw space where dreams feel bigger than the world you’re living in”.

“There was this twinning effect between us that I really enjoyed. That, for me, was the biggest takeaway: when you’re having fun with a character, the performance becomes truly satisfying. I had a blast working on this, and I genuinely hope the audience has as much fun watching it,” the 28-year-old actor continued.

Gamerlog is produced by Abhinay Deo and Neeta Shah and is available to stream for free on Amazon MX Player. The show premiered on the streamer on June 12.