Scam 2003
Scam 2003: The Telgi Story is a Hindi-language biographical crime drama web series depicting the rise and fall of Abdul Karim Telgi, who orchestrated a nationwide counterfeit stamp paper racket in India during the late 1990s and early 2000s.[1][2] The series, directed by Tushar Hiranandani and produced by Applause Entertainment and StudioNEXT for Sony LIV, premiered on September 1, 2023, consisting of 10 episodes that trace Telgi's transformation from a vegetable seller to a fraudulent empire builder exploiting bureaucratic corruption and political connections.[3][4] Gagan Dev Riar portrays Telgi, supported by a cast including Mukesh Tiwari, Sana Amin Sheikh, and others, with the narrative drawing from the real-life scam estimated to involve over ₹30,000 crore in fake documents used for legal and financial transactions across multiple states.[5][6] The production serves as a thematic successor to Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, both under Hansal Mehta's creative oversight, emphasizing systemic vulnerabilities in India's financial and administrative frameworks rather than glorifying the protagonists' exploits.[4] While praised for Riar's immersive performance capturing Telgi's cunning and eventual downfall—he was arrested in 2001, convicted on multiple charges, and died in 2017 from illness—the series has drawn criticism for pacing issues and a formulaic approach compared to its predecessor, though it highlights the scam's exposure by investigative journalism and law enforcement raids.[7][8] The racket's mechanics involved printing substandard fake stamps on low-quality paper, distributed through a network of agents and complicit officials, underscoring causal failures in oversight and verification processes.[9]Series Overview
Premise and Plot
Scam 2003: The Telgi Story depicts the rise of Abdul Karim Telgi, portrayed as originating from a poor family in Khanapur, Karnataka, where he begins as a fruit seller peddling wares on trains before relocating to Mumbai for survival.[10][8] Employed initially at a guest house through a connection named Shaukat, Telgi ventures abroad for work in the Gulf, returns to engage in a fake passport racket, and faces imprisonment, marking his entry into criminal enterprises.[10] Incarcerated, Telgi encounters the flamboyant inmate Kaushal Zaveri, who operates a minor scam reusing revenue stamps from discarded documents, igniting Telgi's ambition to scale such fraud.[10] Drawing inspiration, he orchestrates thefts of blank stamp papers from the government press in Nashik and establishes a counterfeiting operation, forging high-value judicial and non-judicial stamps through rudimentary printing techniques.[10] To distribute these fakes nationwide, Telgi cultivates a vast network of "hyenas"—corrupt police officers, bureaucrats, and politicians—secured via systematic bribery, while ruthlessly shedding underperforming associates to maintain efficiency.[10][8] The narrative arcs trace Telgi's evasion of authorities through calculated risks and expanding influence, but his unchecked greed and personal entanglements, including an infatuation with a dancer, precipitate vulnerabilities leading to exposure.[10] Framed via flashbacks from a narco-analysis interrogation, the series culminates in his arrest, underscoring the perils of ambition amid systemic graft.[8] As a continuation in the anthology-style Scam franchise succeeding Scam 1992, it probes individual opportunism exploiting institutional corruption.[8]Episode Structure
Scam 2003: The Telgi Story Season 1 consists of 10 episodes, each averaging 44 minutes in length, structured as a serialized drama that chronicles Abdul Karim Telgi's trajectory from modest origins to orchestrating a vast counterfeit operation and its subsequent unraveling.[11] The episodes employ cliffhangers to sustain momentum, delineating a rise-fall arc divided into early establishment of illicit networks, mid-season expansion of the scheme, and later episodes centered on investigative pressures and collapse.[4] Released exclusively on Sony LIV, the season premiered in two volumes to build suspense: Volume 1 (episodes 1–5) on September 2, 2023, and Volume 2 (episodes 6–10) on November 3, 2023.[12] [13] Episode titles, often idiomatic Hindi phrases evocative of deception and ambition, guide the progression without revealing specifics:- Episode 1: "Paisa Kamaya Nahin Banaya Jata Hain" – Establishes Telgi's background and initial immersion in Mumbai's opportunistic environment.[14]
- Episode 2: "Choomantar" – Depicts formative experiments in evasion and rudimentary schemes.[14]
- Episode 3: "Khota Sikka" – Examines encounters with established counterfeit elements.[14]
- Episode 4: "Mubarak Ho Aapko" – Highlights network consolidation and operational momentum.[15]
- Mid-season episodes (5–7), including titles like "Mastermind" and "Mumbai Ka King," portray the scam's territorial spread and internal dynamics.[16]
- Episode 10: "Truth Serum" – Culminates in systemic exposure and accountability mechanisms.