Mumbai, Dec 17: Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has roped in newcomers Pratik Gandhi and Shreya Dhanwanthary for his financial thriller “Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story”.
The series, which doesn’t star Mehta’s favourite RajKummar Rao, will tell the story of one of the biggest financial scams in the Indian stock market. Applause Entertainment, the content studio from the Aditya Birla group, is creating the financial thriller, based on Debashis Basu and Sucheta Dalal’s book “The Scam”. It is produced by Studio Next for Applause Entertainment.
Pratik, known for his work in Gujarati theatre and cinema, portrays the role of one of the most controversial stock brokers Harshad Mehta. Shreya, who has been in the news for her performance in recent shows like “The Family Man” and “The Reunion”, will be seen playing the role of the journalist and whistle-blower Sucheta Dalal.
Harshad entered the stock market by chance in the late 1970s with a natural gift for speculation and entrepreneurship, and an eye for loopholes. Soon Harshad became the common man’s hero, and his clients were investing less in the stocks and more in Harshad himself.
The series also features Satish Kaushik, Anant Mahadevan, Rajat Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi, K K Raina, and Lalit Parimoo amongst others. The book has been adapted by screenplay and dialogue writers Sumit Purohit, Saurav Dey, Vaibhav Vishal and Karan Vyas.
“Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, we all knew Harshad as a fascinating, larger than life character, and I am happy to be able to tell his story. We are nearing shoot completion and are hoping to soon present a phenomenal show with a brilliant cast of actors,” Mehta said.
Pratik is ecstatic to foray into the digital space with the series.
“I have always been inclined towards playing characters with complex human emotions. It’s a wonderful opportunity to be working with the amazing team at Applause Entertainment and a creative maestro like Hansal Mehta. This is a very interesting character to play as it has many layers of good and bad to it. The audience will have a great time figuring if the real Harshad Mehta was a hero or a villain,” Pratik aid.
To this, Shreya added: “To get the opportunity to play Sucheta Dalal has been my absolute privilege. She is a strong, bold and independent woman who broke this story to the world and yet went through mixed emotions through this journey. I’m thrilled to be working with the talented Pratik Gandhi, and all my other incredible co-stars. I honestly cannot wait for the audiences to witness the exciting world of the stock and money markets.”
Sucheta Dalal feels “fortunate to witness it at close quarters and break the story”.
“I’m glad that Applause Entertainment has chosen this subject and are developing it for our growing digital audiences. Having known most of the characters in real life, I’m really looking forward to seeing Harshad Mehta being brought alive by Pratik Gandhi and Hansal Mehta,” Dalal said.
Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment, said: “‘Scam 1992’ brings together a passionate team focused on creating a powerful and engaging narrative, that of a stockbroker who single-handedly took the stock market to dizzying heights, and almost brought down a government. We have found a remarkable director in Hansal and together with an exceptional cast, we promise to give audiences a thrilling treat.”
The series is nearing completion and will stream soon on an OTT platform.
