The web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story is based on the systematic fraud committed by many stockbrokers including Harshad Mehta in the Indian stock market which made the entire securities system collapse. He committed a fraud of over 1 billion from the banking system to buy stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Various bank officers were investigated and implicated in fraudulent charges. The scam led to the resignation of P. Chidambaram who was accused of owning shell companies connected to Harshad Mehta. The chairman of Vijaya Bank also committed su!cid#. Various bank officials were arrested leading to a complete breakdown of banking systems. The scam was the biggest financial scam in India.
The web series was released on 9 October 2020 on SonyLIV and received tons of praises for the star cast, storyline and other major technical aspects. It also became the most viewed web series on the streaming platform. Currently, the second installment is in talks by the director which will be titled Scam 2003.
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The role of Bhushan Bhatt in Scam 1992 was portrayed by actor Chirag Vohra
Many people believe that Bhushan Bhatt Harshad Mehta character in Scam 1992 is based on the former stockbroker Ketan Parekh. According to the plot, he was the right-hand man of Harshad Mehta. Ketan Parekh was a chartered accountant by profession and continued the family business in the stock market.
After the Harshad Mehta scam, the Ketan Parekh scam was the second most infamous scam. He himself mentored Harshad and learned stock trading from the pied piper of Bombay Stock Exchange himself. He also conducted the majority of his trading in the Calcutta stock exchange and the lack of regulation in this exchange was a lot beneficial for Ketan Parekh.
Who was Ketan Parekh?
Ketan artificially rigged price of certain chosen securities using large amounts of money borrowed from banks. Parekh got closer to celebrities. Parekh began cultivating friendships with people in Bollywood including Amitabh Bachchan and the diamond merchant Bharat Shah, thus coming into the media’s eye and limelight. This led to an investigative story on him which was first published on 25 August 2000 covering a millennial bash that he had given at his palatial bungalow at Mandwa (near Mumbai), which was attended by Mumbai’s glitterati, industrialists, and media personalities. This was followed by his acquiring expensive luxury cars including a Cadillac, throwing regular high profile parties that were eagerly lapped up by the tabloid media.
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His pictures began to appear in newspapers with his comments on matters related to finance and the budget. The media covered every incident in his life including that of him forming KVP Ventures (a collaboration with Vinay Maloo and the Australian magnate Kerry Packer), forming an investment bank (Triumph international), and turning the loss-making ABCL into a profitable firm by arranging to fund from HFCL. He invested heavily in stocks related to IT, media, and communication and propagated them. He was imprisoned on 30 March 2001 and was banned from trading in the Indian stock market. Rumours say that Ketan Parekh continues trading from a network of unnamed corporations.
Reel life character of Bhushan Bhatt Harshad Mehta in Scam 1992
Chirag Vohra was praised a lot by the viewers for his phenomenal acting skills and successfully depicting the character. In the web series, Bhushan Bhatt Harshad Mehta mentors Harshad Mehta and teaches him every bit of the stock market and exchange. Harshad soon became the “bull of the exchange” and Bhushan also joined the business circle. Harshad Mehta later starts his own company called “Grow More” along with his brother Ashwin Mehta and Bhushan Bhatt.
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Bhushan Bhatt in real life
Chirag Vohra essayed the role of Bhushan Bhatt Harshad Mehta in the web series. He is originally from Mumbai, Maharashtra and a well-known theatre artist. Bhushan is famous for his role of Phoolmani in The play Master Phoolmani. His other theatre works include Gandhi Ke Godse, Kishan vs Kanhaiya and Lagan Gadu Chale Adu. He has also worked for minor roles in different Bollywood movies like Heyy Babyy, OMG! Oh My God, Commando 2, Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se and Billu. He is famous for advertisements like Chloromint and Ponds. He has also worked in a few Gujrati and Hindi television series including the comic serial Bhai Bhaiya Aur Brother, Hum Paanch and Saraswatichandra.
Chirag Vohra was born in a Hindu family. He married Purvi Vohra in the year 2015 and has a son named Aarav Vohra.
In an interview, Chirag Vohra said that it was unexpected from his side that the web series Scam 1992 would blow up. he didn’t even expect that his character would get so much praise and recognition. He always wished to work with director Hansal Mehta and the moment he got the chance, he grabbed the opportunity.
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Even though Chirag Vohra was often seen on the television screen, he wasn’t popular enough for people to search his name on the search bar. But this web series, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story opened his gates and gave him a lot of recognition all over India. Hopefully, we’ll get to see Chirag Vohra in many more upcoming projects.
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