Having penned feature films and now, web shows, writer-filmmaker duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK use the allegory of cricket while describing the difference between the two mediums. "Writing for films is like playing a Test match while that for web, a T20 game. When it comes to scripting a digital show, all the rules change. Every episode must have a beginning, a middle and an end. It has to be extra crisp as each episode must be self-contained," explains DK, one-half of the successful jodi that has slowly brought its own brand of humour to Hindi cinema.

With quirky films like Stree (2018), Go Goa Gone (2013) and Shor In The City (2011) on their resume, it was only a matter of time before Raj-DK — as they prefer to be called — would explore the digital medium. "We had been waiting three years to make a long-format story. We had a bunch of ideas and were looking for the right platform," admits Raj.

The idea that finally progressed from the logline to a full-fledged series is that of The Family Man, an Amazon Prime Video drama that revolves around a quiet Chembur resident who moonlights as an undercover agent for the Threat Analysis and Surveillance Cell of the National Investigative Agency. The director duo's signature everyday humour is evident as their protagonist, played by Manoj Bajpayee, makes do with daily chores of picking up the kids from school or applying for a home loan when he is not saving the country. "This is the first time we are collaborating with him. He plays a meek middle-class man who is also a spy. He was the best suited to play the common man, lace the character with humour, yet be serious when on the job as an intelligence officer," says DK about Bajpayee.