iWorld
From stock market to screen: SonyLIV’s Scam 1992 is a cautionary tale
KOLKATA: In April 1992, mayhem hit the Indian financial sector as the nation woke up to the biggest stock market scam. So huge was its impact on Dalal Street that it led to structural changes in the financial security system of India with new reforms in stock trades. However, what remains untold is the story of the mastermind behind it. Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story, SonyLIV’s latest tentpole show, is about the charismatic stockbroker who orchestrated a previously unheard-of Rs 5,000-crore securities scandal.
Unravelling the man from the myth over the course of 10 nail-biting episodes, the show will drop on the OTT platform on 9 October. With it, SonyLIV is hoping to boost its subscriber base while fulfilling its promise to deliver more original content.
Produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Studio Next, this series is a financial crime thriller based on the bestseller book The Scam written by notable journalists Debashis Basu and Sucheta Dalal.
The series is a gripping tale of the meteoric rise and fall of the flamboyant big bull of the stock market – Harshad Mehta. Directed by national award-winning filmmaker Hansal Mehta, the series is led by Pratik Gandhi and Shreya Dhanwanthary along with an ensemble cast of Satish Kaushik, Sharib Hashmi, Anant Mahadevan, Nikhil Dwivedi, KK Raina and Lalit Parimoo, among others. The creative team comprises dialogue writers Sumit Purohit, Saurav Dey, Vaibhav Vishal and Karan Vyas.
Director Hansal Mehta said the story, or cautionary tale, is more relevant than ever in these troubled times where a new multi-billion dollar scam is uncovered every other day and the conmen responsible fly the coop with uncanny ease.
“This show gives you an intimate peek into the middle-class aspirations of a common man who rose from rags to riches while managing to subvert and deceive the banking system. It talks about what the system, if not mended, might make people do. The system doesn’t seem to have mended. There is scam on scam,” Mehta averred.
Having helmed films about complex socio-political issues, like Shahid starring Rajkummar Rao, and Manoj Bajpayee-led Aligarh, Mehta found the enormity of Scam 1992 to be a quite a unique challenge.
"I've told many true stories but to put this kind of long-form writing on screen was a huge challenge. It was perhaps the biggest, single largest challenge that I've had after making almost 15 feature films," he said.
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The makers spent over three years on the show to ensure absolute accuracy, from the script, to choice of actors, and the overall treatment.
“Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta Story reflects on a landmark event in the Indian stock market. The incident was integral in shaping India’s financial security systems and hence was a story waiting to be told,” Studio Next head Indranil Chakraborty said.
Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair said that with Scam 1992, the company hopes to raise the bar of premium series in India in terms of creativity and production while staying true to the original source material.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
