Scam 1992 - The Harshad Mehta Story (Sony Liv)

 

 

There was a time in the 80's and 90's when investments meant only fixed deposits and other secure instruments that earned you interest headache free. 

India post independence was growing and the advent of the stock market was limited to a handful not as of now how everyone is interested in making quick money.

This would have stayed that way if the name of Harshad Mehta was not splashed across newspapers as the big bull in the stock market and making more money than anyone at that point of time. The scam one of the firsts of white collar crimes of such scale surely made heads turn and yes put in the limelight on the financial market. There are court cases that are still going on even though the man has passed away.

When we talk about the Indian movie/tv industry about depicting movies/series based on real life individuals, there are very few that has been able to capture the attention of the audience. Most of them stray away from projecting the real facts the way it was and choose to go for creative inspiration and diluting the impact from what it could have been. 

If we look at Hollywood, there would a collection of such movies/series based on individual and some stand apart.

The series Scam 1992 - The Harshad Mehta Story on the OTT platform Sony Liv is based on Harshad Mehta who from a job of a jobber became one of the big bull of the stock exchange and the scam he got embroiled into.

The series is based on the book The Scam: Who Won, who Lost, who Got Away written by Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu. Sucheta Dalal was the one who broke the news of scam to the public.

The series showcases the life of Harshad Mehta wanting more out of his life and ends up as a jobber in the share market. His rise from there on has been captured and the downfall that saw him caught behind the bars for the scam that he claimed he never committed.

One of the good things about this series is that it stick to the facts and that is truly fascinating be it the stocks, companies involved or the people (fictionalized).

The way the whole scam has been explained in a lucid manner with the financial terminologies used. Its very easy to understand for viewers not good in maths. The series has maintained a balanced view and not going around the blame game on who is wrong and who is not. That again is a very good aspect to see.

The hold on the series is very tight from small to big details. From capturing the Bombay of the 90's and ensuring the reel depicts the reality like the Harshad Mehta photo/interview in front of his famed Lexus car.

It was good to see the way the essence of the husband-wife (Harshad and his wife) and Sucheta, Debashish relations was captured. Not much has been said but one gets the gist.

This is a 10 episode series and each one of them keeps you hooked to the screen. The credit goes to the editors Kunal Walve & Sumit Purohit  and also to the director/s Hansal Mehta/Jai Mehta. 

The series writers Saurav Dey, Sumit Purohit, Vaibhav Vishal & Karan Vyas also deserves applause because its the narration of the story telling that either works or not. In this one, it has made its kill.

The theme and background music by Achint Thakkar keeps pumping up the energy in the right way and surely gets one's attention.

Another unique aspect of this series is the casting of the characters. I am not sure if one has noticed, but most of them have been playing character roles for a while now and its good to see such a cast with rich background in acting abilities. To name a few it will be Chirag Vohra, Sharib Hashmi, K K Rain, Ananth Mahadevan, Satish Kaushik, Paresh Ganatra, Rajat Kapoor and Rajesh Jais.

It sure was surprising to see Nikhil Dwivedi in a character role after ages. There was also short appearances by Mamik Singh and Ayaz Khan. 

Its Pratik Gandhi who walks away with all the accolades with his presence over shadowing other in his lead as Harshad Mehta. He did well to capture the nuances of the late big bull and put it across the screen. His acting abilities adds up to the shine of this well crafted series.

This is by far the best series depicting the life of an individual who shook the nation and the stock market with his ingenuity.

The climax of the series makes you think if he deserved the kind of treatment he was given or others were let go scot-free. The snippets of the actual events, interviews ends up adding a lot more credibility to it.  

This is a must watch series which stands out in all aspects and can be watched more than once. 

Hope this paves the way for many more such series/movies to come.

Raat Akeli Hain (Netflix Movies)

Raat Akeli Hain is a movie starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte, directed by Honey Trehan. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala & Abhishek Chaubey. It is streaming on Netflix.

The movie is a whodunnit one and the entire premise is to find the killer of the bridegroom who dies on his wedding night.

Nawazuddin dons the role of an Inspector Jatil Yadav who is handed over the case to look into it. Radhika Apte plays the role of Radha whose husband has been killed and all suspicion is on her, the one who killed her husband.

The victim Raghubeer Singh was a powerful man and this was his second marriage. As the investigation went ahead it bought other suspects into the play. 

The movie subtly shows the challenges of the police working in the rural areas when it comes to collecting evidences and ensuring the crime spot is not tampered with.

On the other hand there is Jatil's mother played by Illa Arun who has been seen on the screen after a long time. Though she has been given a short role she splendidly makes one to take notice of her.

The attempt of a mother trying to get her overage wheatish son for marriage. Nawaz applying cream on his face to look fair.

The plot of the movie though is on a thin ice when it comes to how its shown. The back stories and trying to show and understand each character's purpose for the killing. The maid's death and investigation of another death comes to naught when you will see and understand the climax. 

There is a scene in the middle of the movie where it kind of gives the timeline when they could have easily know who the killer was and that itself would have put an end to the story. 

In the kind of whodunit movies, the audience aspect should also be considered kind of making them think who the killer would be or shows each characters roles on why they are been considered as a suspect. At least make the story line tight enough that it does not comes as a surprise.

Somehow the plot lost its impact towards the end not able to build up the energy leading up to it. All one could say that it was good attempt showing one. Not sure who is at fault here the editor or the director or the writers who could have filled in the gaps.

Three actors stood out in this movie. Illa Arun, Riya Shukla and yes Aditya Srivastava (its good to see him after a long time of CID tv series). All three of them given very little screen time and they manage to make it count. Shweta Tripathi certainly deserves better this in a blink and you miss role.

Nawazuddin and Radhika were on their usual nothing out of the ordinary. Is it me that I find Radhika Apte carrying the same expression in every scene? She can do a lot with her eyes. Just look at Illa Arun.

The climax setting was portrayed in a good way but the way the killer was found was a downer. The direction could have been better and I am not sure why Nawazuddin & Radhika back story was shown. Was it because mommy dearest wanted him to get married and everyone want to make sure this happened. :D

Overall you wont miss anything if you manage to skip this one.

Afsos (Amazon Prime)

I was staring at the wall lost deep into the abyss. The mosquito buzzing around got my attention and it was not until I made my kill that I could come out of it.

That is what happened post watching of the new series Afsos on Amazon Prime.

Hangover of watching the black comedy which is rare in the Indian shows be it web series and the what not's.

When we talk about black comedy or satire, its a very risky proposition. You can either hit the mark or miss so badly that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Another problem is that a majority of the audiences just don't understand it. In case you are wondering why, its because no one wants to use their brains when they are trying to just pass time or have fun. The one that do falls in minority and no one really cares about it.

The series takes us in the life of Nakul (Gulshan Devaiah) who left his job to become a writer. Later realizing that he was not good enough when he received no response on  his book submitted.

Its takes us on his journey of trying to give up up on his life but someone else always beats him to it.

Its the troubles of trying to meet death but unable to do so even post giving a hit job on his own name. There are side plots running in the form of Fokhtiya Baba trying to find the immortal man to give him the elixir of life. The Psychiatrist (Anjali Patil) love angel with Nakul. The hit man (Heeba Khan) who has never missed a hit wants to keep the record clean.

Will he succeed or give up? Will the other sub plots played around will  work and impact Nakul's life is what the series about.

Like I said in a satire plot, its very important how it plays out to hit the mark. This one is on shaky grounds given that the climax takes the cake and keeps the confusion continued. Hinting that there will be a second season coming.

The saving grace or the ray of sunshine would be Gulshan Devaiah whose acting prowess made it easy to watch. He was well complemented by Anjali Patel, Heeba Khan, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee, Robin Das & Ujjwal Chopra.

The writers (Dibya Chaterjee, Anirban Dasgupta & Sourav Ghosh) lost the plot towards the end. First its a satire and then no clarity provided. Audience is not going to rake its brain given that there was no hints on how it is going to play out. Its a tough ask to think that people will understand.

The direction by Anubhuti Kashyap was tight but the climax was pathetic. It could have been well written & shown. The series was completely dependent on Gulshan's acting abilities. Not sure how it would have pan out if for any other actor.

Watch it only if you like black comedies or Gulshan Devaiah's acting.

P.S.: The series is based on the Bengali book Golper Goru Chaande, you can find the English version here.

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