Gagan Dev Riar to play Abdul Karim Telgi in Scam 2003

Ever since Hansal Mehta and SonyLIV announced Scam 2003: The Telgi Story, which is based on the life of conman Abdul Karim Telgi, the only question on people’s minds was who would play the lead character. It has now been revealed that Gagan Dev Riar will essay Telgi in the show. 

A statement from the makers said, “The series chronicles the life of Abdul Karim 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. The scam, spread across multiple states, shook the entire country.”

Scam 2003 has been adapted from the Hindi book Reporter Ki Diary authored by journalist Sanjay Singh, who blew the lid off the scam. The show will be directed by Mehta and Tushar Hiranandani.

The makers have shared a motion poster of the show which shows Riar in character. The actor has done a lot of theatre work. He has films such as Sunsilk Real FM (2014), Piya Behrupia (2015) and Sonchiriya (2019) to his credit. He has also acted in the web-series Not Fit. (2015) and A Suitable Boy (2020). 

Produced by Applause Entertainment in association with StudioNEXT, Scam 2003 is the second show in the Scam franchise. The first one, Scam 1992, was based on the life of the late stockbroker Harshad Mehta, who was essayed by Pratik Gandhi.