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.