Mumbai, Aug 28 Actor Gagan Dev Riar, who is set to essay the role of the convicted Indian counterfeiter, Abdul Karim Telgi in ‘Scam 2003’, was earlier supposed to play the part of Sitaraman, the SBI manager at the centre of the whole securities scam in the first part of the ‘Scam’ series ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’.
However, despite being the first choice Gagan couldn’t take up the role because of date issues.
Talking about his connection with the first season of the show, Gagan Dev Riar said: “If not for date issues, I would have been part of the first season of Scam. I was the first choice for the character of Sitaraman, the SBI manager who was at the centre of the whole securities scam, which was later exceptionally played by Jamini Pathak.”
He further mentioned: "However, at that time I was busy with a project and couldn’t take on the role. And later Telgi came into the picture. In the end it all worked out somehow, I did eventually get to be part of the Scam series, this time, as Abdul Karim Telgi."
Helmed by Hansal Mehta and directed by Tushar Hiranandani, the series is based on one of India's biggest scams by Abdul Karim Telgi, which shocked the nation with its unimaginable scale.
The show also stars Sana Amin Sheikh, Bhavana Balsaver, Bharat Jadhav, J. D. Chakravarthy, Bharat Dabholkar, Shashank Ketkar, Talat Aziz, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Vivek Mishra, Hitha Chandrashekhar, Ajay Jadhav and Dinesh Lal Yadav.
Talking about Abdul Karim Telgi, he started his counterfeiting career by making fake passports. He then started a business to export manpower to Saudi Arabia and opened a company. For the same, he used to create several fake documents that would facilitate labourers’ smooth passage at the airport even if their passport had an emigration check required stamp or other issues that could raise red flags for immigration officials.
Telgi moved to more complex counterfeiting when he began to counterfeit stamp paper. He appointed 300 people as agents who sold the fakes to bulk purchasers, including banks, insurance companies, and stock brokerage firms.
Produced by Applause Entertainment in association with StudioNEXT, ‘Scam 2003: The Telgi Story’ will drop on September 1 on Sony LIV.
--IANS
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