The Real Life Counterparts Of ‘Scam 1992’

SonyLIV’s Scam 1992 has received thumbs up from the audience. It is directed by Hansal and Jai Mehta. This ten-art web series chronicles the rise and fall of ‘Big Bull’ Harshad Mehta, the man behind India’s massive stock market scam. Based on journalists Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu’s book ‘The Scam: Who Won, Who Lost, Who Got Away, Scam 1992 offers a well-rounded view of Mehta and his rags-to-riches story. Here is a quick breakdown of the main players in Mehta’s story.

There is Pranav Seth (Jai Upadhyay), who is based on Ketan Parekh, a former stockbroker who worked for Mehta’s firm that was involved in the scam. Parekh orchestrated another infamous scam after Harshad Mehta, and who was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in 2018 for manipulating the stock market. Many people have the opinion that Bhushan Bhatt (Chirag Vohra), Mehta’s right-hand man in the show is based on Parekh. But Bhusan Bhatt is a fictional character and not based on any real-life individual.

Satish Kaushik plays Manu Mundra, based on Manu Manek, a dreaded market operator who spearheaded the Bombay Stock Exchange’s bear cartel. Kavin Dave plays Rakesh, based on Rakesh Jhunjhunwala – India’s present stock market king. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala took over ‘The Big Bull’ mantle for Harshad Mehta. He was a part of the bear cartel initially in the 90s. Maheshwari, played by comic actor Paresh Ganatra, is based on Radhakishan Damani, the founder of the supermarket chain DMart.

Damani learned all his tricks in the stock market watching Manu Manek in action and locked horns with Mehta in the 90s. Mr. Damani continues to keep a low profile despite the enormous success of DMart. There is also stock and money market broker Ajay Kedia (Shadaab Khan) based on Ajay Kayan’s like. Kayan was also a part of the bear cartel that exposed Mehta.

With regards to the current whereabouts of Harshad Mehta’s family, his brother Ashwin was acquitted in 2018 along with eight senior bank officials by a special court in the Rs 105 crore SBI fraud. Meanwhile, Mehta’s wife, Jyoti, recently won a legal battle against a Mumbai based broker who owed Rs 6 crore to her late husband since 1992. We aren’t sure about the whereabouts of Harshad Mehta’s son – Atur Mehta

With regards to the one who brought this scam into the light – Sucheta Dalal is currently working as the Managing Editor at Moneylife India, an online financial magazine. Her husband Debashis Basu, who helped her unearth the scam, is the founder, editor, and publisher of Moneylife.

It should be interesting to note that apart from Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parekh, none of the other characters were ever charged or convicted of any financial crimes.

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