Rohit Saraf and Prajakta Koli return as Rishi and Dimple in Season 2 of Mismatched, that dropped on Netflix last weekend. The young adult show, that found many fans in Season 1 for its fresh and fun factor, has the two characters once again navigating the treacherous terrain of love, career, friendship, misunderstandings and other relatable highs and lows. The chatted with Rohit and Prajakta — who are both experiencing a career high — on Mismatched and more.

Was getting into Season 2 all about familiarity and fun or was it also pressurising, considering the great response that came in for the first season?

Prajakta Koli: In one of our conversations, Akarsh (Khurana, the show’s director) put it brilliantly when he said that the responsibility is a given when it comes to Mismatched. Season 2 ko behtar karna toh hain hi... otherwise why would anyone come back to the show?

I am so close to Dimple (her character) that I don’t think I really detached from her when Season 1 ended. I kept watching Mismatched, whether or not anyone else was watching it! (Laughs) I kept watching it over and over again because I love this world and it’s very close to my heart. Having said that, I thought I knew Dimple, but in the new season there are many more sides to her... not just her, but every character. Doing Season 2, I have learnt a lot more about her.

Getting back to being Dimple was easy for me because our director and writers had her down very, very well on paper. That helped me a lot in understanding what she’s going through.

Rohit Saraf: It was a bittersweet feeling to come back to playing Rishi. Two years had gone by before we could start shooting for Season 2. Those two years were, of course, not ordinary years because of the pandemic. It was funny because when we left Season 1, I was a

22-year-old playing a 17-year-old, and when I came back to Season 2, I was a 25-year-old who was playing a character who was still 17!

It was confusing to kind of manoeuvre through that. I found solace in the fact that Akarsh was just as confused as a director as I was as an actor! (Laughs) He had been shooting back to back in the pandemic and he had come in from shooting Jugaadistan and Rashmi Rocket, and the vibe of those two projects is very different from Mismatched. Mismatched is young adult, fun, it has a cool vibe... for him to come back to this was a bit of a struggle.

But I am glad that all of us as a team came back to Season 2 stronger than before and we understood that we are all on the same page, though things would be different and challenging.

Playing Rishi at 22 was different and when I played him at 25 — even though he’s remained 17 — my stance as an actor needed to change. Some kind of evolution did have to happen for the character, as it has happened for me as an actor. I needed him to be more layered. Season 2 is not just about Rishi being a hopeless romantic, we also go into the whole family dynamics of Rishi’s world. So this season speaks a lot about who he is as a person, where he comes from and why he behaves the way that he does. He comes from a broken family and this season explores that.

Rohit, it’s interesting you mentioned your family dynamics because this season introduces Jugal Hansraj as your dad. For many of us, he’s still that kid from Masoom!

Prajakta: He’s still a hottie! (Laughs) When he was shooting with us, we would keep staring at him in the monitor. In the later episodes, there is a scene between Rishi and his father which is so beautiful...

Rohit: Yes, it was very special.

In retrospect, what do you think works for Mismatched, considering there are so many other shows in the young-adult genre...

Rohit: Yes, there are many young-adult shows out there, but what they don’t talk about — and which our show does — is the simple emotion called love. In Season 1, what worked with the audience that we were trying to target was the fact that it’s so lighthearted and that it talks about romance. There is a huge audience for it. I am one of the biggest fans of that genre. We have grown up watching shows like Remix and Dill Mill Gayye....

Prajakta: Dr Armaan (played by Karan Singh Grover) in Dill Mill Gayye was the thing! (Laughs)

Rohit: In Mismatched, people love the fact that it has such simple emotions and is a highly binge-able show. The relatability quotient of the show is very high. The Dimple-Rishi love story is the major arc, but there is so much else too. Every character talks about a certain thing that he or she is going through. All the issues on the show are tackled cohesively and subtly and not in a sensational manner. In Mismatched, everyone will relate to at least one character.

To be able to gain such a loyal fanbase that has waited for Season 2 for two years while we have taken our time to come out with it, speaks volumes. I think one simple reason why this has happened is because the show has a lot of heart.

When we made Season 1, we weren’t thinking of the fanbase we are going to get; we were thinking of having fun, we were thinking of enjoying what we were creating... and that translated really well on screen.

Prajakta: I also feel that the timing of the first season couldn’t have been better. We were in the middle of the first lockdown (in 2020) and all of us, as a collective whole, were looking for something that would take our minds off everything that was happening around us. And as much as I am a fan of films and shows that show life as it is, we all need feel-good and fantastical stuff to watch every now and then. Mismatched kind of fit in very nicely in that tiny little gap.

If you had to keep one thing from your respective characters and one thing you would want to discard from them, what would they be?

Prajakta: Both Dimple and I are kind of blind, so materially I would like to keep her glasses, which I actually did! (Laughs) Otherwise, I would like to keep her relentless nagging when it comes to getting what she wants in life. She never gives up! She’s all in, whether she’s going in the right direction or even when she’s making a mistake. Aadha kaam nahin karna is her motto. I am not a gamer, so I wouldn’t like to keep that aspect of her with me.

So no chance of you ever creating an app?

Prajakta: I may create an app, but unlike Dimple, I won’t make it the centre of my existence!

Rohit: I would keep Rishi’s heart, because I think it’s beautiful. What I wouldn’t keep is him resorting to lying to come across as perfect.

Between the two seasons of Mismatched, there’s been a huge jump in your respective careers. Prajakta made her Bolly debut with JugJugg Jeeyo, Rohit you had a big film in Vikram Vedha recently. How are you looking at the next year or so?

Prajakta: I had my stuff going on on YouTube, but Mismatched was my first acting-acting thing. I couldn’t have asked for a better first project in this new life that made me think, ‘Okay, chalo maybe I can also be an actor’. My career has taken huge strides since then and sometimes it’s just so overwhelming. I don’t know how to deal with it. But I am very grateful.

Rohit: Even for me, life changed after Mismatched. Suddenly, I felt visible to people (laughs). I felt heard and seen and loved, which was a great feeling.