Scam 1992-Web Series Review

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Web Show: Scam 1992

Language: Hindi

Genre: Drama

Episodes: 10

Director: Hansal Mehta

Cast: Pratik Gandhi, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Hemant Kher, Chirag Vohra, Rajat Kapoor

Streaming: Sony LIV

"Risk Hai Toh Ishq Hai"

We're appreciator of Hansal Mehta's work. The films like Dus Kahaniyaan, Shahid, City Lights, Aligarh, and 

Omerta were not commercially successful. We have stopped believing the box office hits guarantee a good movie. If you've not already watched the above-movies then you must. We were in the middle of binging Tales from the Loop. And during a conversation we heard glowing praise for Scam 1992 from brother.

We remember hearing about Harshad Mehta in dinner-table conversation while we were very young. The Scam 1992 is about him. A stockbroker who climbed the ladder of Bombay Stock Exchange and manipulated the money market to 24,000 crore scam.

WeReflect: This periodic drama is set in the 80s and 90s of Bombay. The first half sets the narrative of Harshad leaving his sales job to join a stock brokerage to be a jobber and his steady growth from rags to riches.  The second half is about his gradual fall from grace.  Sucheta Dalal, the financial journalist at Times of India is the one who investigated and uncovered the shady financial irregularities of Harshad. In fact the web-series is based on the book 'The Scam: Who Won, Who Lost, Who Got Away' by Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu. 

Understanding the financial lingo is quite tedious and challenging for a common man. All those details are simplified right from the beginning with a word BR (Bank Receipts). A great deal of research went to create this otherwise tough subject. The creators were smart enough not to take any sides. Here the protagonist is not a magnanimous megalomaniac, just you average Joe. Those were the days when journalism was about investigation, publishing with evidence backed by documents to verify. Sucheta Dalal's character tells us good journalism matters.

A round of applause to the casting director for selecting amazing actors, lead as well as supporting.  Though the creator was unbiased we could not help but root for Harshad to get away from all the charges.  We could hear ourselves suggesting Harshad to stop being greedy, you've made enough. And shaking our heads in distress when he goes ahead rigging the market. The sole reason for our deep involvement is Pratik Gandhi, the man who played Harshad. Now even the real Harshad Mehta cannot replace our image. He breathes into the character and totally owns it. This theater actor is here to stay for a very long time. Hope Indian cinema would not stereotype this versatile artist. While scrolling down his insta we came to know he has put on 18 kilos for this role. 

Shreya Dhanwantary as Sucheta Dalal is brilliant. Special mention to Hemant Kher who played Harshad's brother Ashwin Mehta to the T. Seeing Rajat Kapoor as a tough CBI officer is a treat. Satish Kaushik as foul-mouthing Manu Mundra, Chirag Vohra as Bhushan Bhatt, Faisal Rashid as Debasish Basu and rest of the cast were amazing. The bond between Mehta brothers is heart-touching and beautiful.

Biased we maybe we don't to watch the upcoming "The Big Bull" where Abhishek Bacchan plays Harshad. We are loyal to Pratik that way.    

WeReflect Rating: Highly recommended