The Sony Liv production, biographical drama based on The Scam: Who Won, who Lost, who Got Away by Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu, takes us through the journey of infamous stock trader/businessman Harshad Mehta. The series starts in 1992 at the height of Harshad Mehta’s success, with TOI reporter Sucheta Dalal being informed by a whistle-blower about discrepancies in the books of SBI, allegedly due to the actions of Harshad Mehta. With the initial tease of the intriguing story of the ‘scam’, the series cuts back to the late 70’s where a young and unexperienced Harshad Mehta and his family are finding it hard to make ends meet in the city of Mumbai. After displaying the initial struggles of the protagonist the story kicks off with him being introduced to the stock market and trying to learn the tricks of the trade to turn his fortunes around. With the quick and sharp learner he is, Harshad takes no time in acquiring the skills of a seasoned trader and his road to success begins. The story continues and takes the viewer through the wild ride of Harshad Mehta to the very top, we are introduced to multiple characters some friends some foes, we are shown the legal and illegal ways he earned his fortune which caught attention of authorities and indeed journalist Sucheta Dalal and lastly we are acquainted with the exuberant lifestyle he and his family became accustomed to. Then we arrive to 1992, with the incidence depicted in Ep.1, which is the beginning of the end for Harshad Mehta. The story continues with Harshad Mehta trying to prove his innocence and trying to keep a hold of his fortune as the enemies he made while on his path to success come back to bite him.
All in all the series tries to accurately retell the story as it happened, nonetheless while taking some artistic liberties as biographies do. The rags to riches story connects with viewer at a deep level, weather you support or are against Harshad Mehta you sympathize with him. The background score and soundtrack is very well prepared and quite intricately thought of. The lead and supporting cast may have stolen the show but the casting choices were made amazingls well without which even good acting may not have paid off. The structure and sequence of the story may seem unoriginal but the series rarely lacks creativity. Apart from a few ignorable post production mistakes the series keeps the viewer intrigued and interested till the very end.
The series has outmatched every Indian series by a mile and seems like the inception of a new chapter in the Indian online Tv space. When the writers of the show wrote this show they would not have imagined the reception the show (and to some extent even the aforementioned dialogue) has received.
Acting- 9.5
Casting- 9.5
Cinematography- 8.5
Dialogue- 9
Directing- 9
Editing & Effects- 8
Sound & Music- 10
Story/Plausibility- 8.5
Storytelling- 8
Rating- 9.5
Available on: Sony Liv
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