New Delhi: After the success of Hansal Mehta’s ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’, the series will be back with its season 2. The second instalment of the Scam franchise is called ‘Scam 2003: The Telgi Story’, and features the story of the famous Stamp Paper Scam.
Hansal Mehta is the creator of season 2 as well, while the series will be directed by Tushar Hiranandani, whose first directorial venture was ‘Saand Ki Aankh’. The series is based on the book ‘Reporter ki Diary’ by journalist Sanjay Singh, who broke the story of the 2003 scam. Hansal Mehta took on social media to announce the beginning of the shoot for season 2 in April. Later on, he also announced that Gagan Dev Riar will play the character of Abdul Karim Telgi. Gagan is a theatre artist with 15 years of experience, apart from the theatre he has acted in ‘A Suitable Boy’ and ‘Sonchiriya’.
When and where to watch?
Season 2 of the Scam franchise will be available on Sony Liv. The release date of the show is not known currently. Season 2 is produced under the banners of Applause Entertainment and Studio NEXT.
Who is Abdul Karim Telgi?
Teligi’s fraudulent activities began with him making fake passports. After being sentenced for fake passports, he moved on to creating fake stamp papers. He reportedly used to sell the stamp papers to banks, insurance companies, and various stock brokerage companies. He used to get hold of obsolete stamp paper printing machines being auctioned.
Telgi is said to have been supported by police and administration officers. However, he was arrested in 2001 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2007. He died of an organ failure in 2017.
A film titled ‘Mudrank’ (The Stamp) was made on the life of Telgi in 2008, but it never got released as he filed a case against the makers on the grounds that it might affect the legal appeals in his case. In 2020, a web series named ‘Paper’ was released on the Ullu App, in which Rohit Roy played the character of Telgi.