Hansal Mehta Shares Deets About Scam 2003: The Telgi Story, Promises Bigger Treat With Season 2

Hansal Mehta struck gold with his scintillating web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. For months, it was the only show that was talked about. Pratik Gandhi who portrayed the role of scammer Harshad Mehta, got his breakthrough because of this very series and has been doing phenomenal work since then.

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Mehta on the other hand, is all set to present the second season of his superhit series Scam 2003. He assures that the second installment will be as ¡°authentic and entertaining¡± as the original but with a completely different approach when it comes to storytelling.

What Is Scam: 2003 All About?

The new season will narrate the tale of 2003 Stamp Paper fraud by Abdul Karim Telgi. It will chronicle the life of Telgi, a fruit-seller born in Khanapur in Karnataka and his journey to becoming the mastermind behind one of the most ingenious scams in India

? Telgi has been found.??

Presenting the very talented Gagan Dev Riar as Abdul Telgi. #Scam2003. pic.twitter.com/wws3phKOmJ

¡ª Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) May 24, 2022

This time theatre actor Gagan Dev Riar will headline the series. Scam: 2003 is adapted from the Hindi book Reporter ki Diary authored by journalist and news reporter Sanjay Singh, who is credited with breaking the story of the scam back in the day.

Talking about the new season, Hansal Mehta said, ¡°It¡¯s a completely fresh take with a new director, who is executing it with his own vision, ability and we have a new actor, who¡¯s another sensational find. So there¡¯s a lot of new things to look forward to. It has a new story, part of this amazing franchise¡±.

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Mehta will serve as the showrunner and direct alongside filmmaker Tushar Hiranandani of Saand Ki Aankh fame.

During a panel discussion to celebrate two years of streaming platform SonyLIV¡¯s relaunch, Mehta said the team has treated the new season as a ¡°fresh start¡±.

¡°It¡¯ll be entertaining, authentic and all the things that season one was and much more. You¡¯re delving into a life, a new character. We will try to incorporate learnings from season one.

¡°But we have treated season two as a fresh start. We cannot be bogged down by season one, that it was a huge success so we have to repeat it. The moment you get into that trap, you¡¯ll end up disappointing yourself,¡± the show-maker said.

¡°One of the learnings from the show was that we took risks. And ¡®risk hai toh ishq hai¡¯. So we won¡¯t stop taking those risks and do it with conviction,¡± he further added.

Hansal Mehta Feels Any Show¡¯s Virality Can Be Gauged By The Number Of Memes Made On It

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The filmmaker truly believes that if a show manages to inspire memes and jokes then it means that it has gone viral in the true sense of the word.

He said, "Memes are a great way to judge a show or film's success. If dialogues from your creation suddenly find their way to memes, be rest assured your content has cut across the audience."

Before Scam 1992, Mehta wasn¡¯t privy to the concept of memes, it was only after his show got popular that he became acquainted with the power of memes.

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"I discovered memes after 'Scam' and was pleasantly surprised by their reach because they're snackable and derivative form of content and travel way faster than any form of content. The audience too jumps in to make their own version of memes and dialogues, it becomes an user generated content falling under the umbrella of organic marketing," he said.

However, he also pointed out the biggest flaw of the meme-verse.

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"There's a downside to it to, because a lot of time writers get carried away while writing dialogues in a bid to make them meme-worthy, this robs them off the show's or film's authenticity," he concluded.

The release date of Scam 2003: The Telgi Story is yet to be announced.

(With inputs from PTI)

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