Love Sex Aur Dhokha-fame actor Anshuman Jha has bagged the role of a serial killer in the ongoing ZEE5 web series Abhay. The character is inspired by real-life criminal Udayan Das, who allegedly killed his parents and later his girlfriend in a publicised triple murder case. The actor shot for his portions in Lucknow and Kanpur.

Anshuman, who has mostly played protagonist characters in films like Love Sex Aur Dhokha, Yeh Hai Bakrapur and Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain, spoke about the experience of playing a villain. "As an actor, you look for challenges. And a character based on such a notorious person is a challenge. Purely from a craft point of view, I look for good stories and parts which have many shades. Being a good guy on screen all the time can get monotonous and boring," he said, adding, "This man is dark. I have done a film called Midnight Delhi where my character is based on Delhi's 'Blademan'. He was just violent. This guy is violent and dark.”

Abhay stars Kunal Keemu in the lead role of troubled cop tracking down complicated cases. The eight-episode crime thriller started streaming on February 7. The first two episodes are now available on ZEE5.