Scam 2003: Gagan Dev Riar Nails It
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-09-03 03:33:50
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
Hansal Mehta created Scam 1992 which made Pratik Gandhi a star. Although he has passed the directorial baton to Tushar Hiranandani, his stamp is visible in Scam 2003 - The Telgi Story (streaming on SonyLiv), which takes the scam franchise forward. Based on the book 'Telgi Scam: Reporter's Ki Diary', and working with a screenplay by Karan Vyas, Kiran Yadnyopavit, and Kedar Patankar, the Part 1 of the series has 5 episodes that show how a B.Com passed fruit seller moves from a small village in Karnataka to Mumbai after he catches the eye of a benevolent passenger on the train where he is vending his wares. In Mumbai, he turns the fortunes of the guest house of his benefactor through his unique hard-sell methods, marries his daughter and does a stint in the Middle-East to earn money. But as he is a 'family man' he returns to India to make money. Powered by his burning desire to make money ("paisa kamaya nahi jata, banaya jata hai" is his philosophy), Abdul Karim Telgi (Gagan Dev Riar in a stupendous performance) befriends a small-time crook who sells share transfer stamps stolen from 'dead' physical shares.
From there on, Telgi learns the ropes and nothing misses his eye. He soon discovers that transfer stamps or other small-time scams are for the weak-hearted as he says that "daring to karna padega na darling". He zeroes-in on stamp papers and launches a massive operation to first replace originals with fakes and then introduce fakes all over. Politicans, bureaucrats and policemen are all on his payroll. Although the script is not as tight as Scam 1992 and moments of dullness and inertia do take away from the story, the show is engaging and holds the attention of the viewers.
Gagan Dev Riar is absolutely fantastic as Telgi. He gets the body language, mannerisms and speech of a nobody from the interiors of Karnataka wheeling and dealing in Mumbai to 'make' money pat on. He does not have the flamboyance of Harshad Mehta but it is his ordinariness (which is also the subject of jokes in the series) that works in his favour. The supporting cast is also excellent. Watch it for Gagan Dev's marvellous performance and the way the scam unfolds.
