After the success of Scam 1992, Applause Entertainment and SonyLIV announce the 2nd season of the Scam franchise – The Telgi Story

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai, Date, 2021: Applause Entertainment, a venture of the Aditya Birla Group led by media veteran Sameer Nair is known for bringing unique and compelling premium content to audiences, which has received appreciation from audiences and critics alike.  Amongst the multiple shows that they launched last year in the Indian streaming space, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story which is currently streaming on SonyLIV, witnessed immense love and fanfare unlike any other show has till date. It left audiences thoroughly entertained and speculating as to what the next season could entail. All that speculation is now being put to rest as Applause Entertainment has officially announced that the second season of this popular franchise will feature the story of the 2003 Stamp Paper Scam by Abdul Karim Telgi. Tentatively titled as ‘Scam 2003: The Curious Case of Abdul Karim Telgi’, the show will be adapted from the Hindi book ‘Reporter ki Diary’ authored by journalist / news reporter Sanjay Singh, who is credited with breaking the story of the scam back in the time.

The series promises to be an intriguing watch as it will capture the life of Abdul Karim Telgi, born in Khanapur in Karnataka, and his journey to becoming the mastermind behind one of India’s most ingenious scams spread across multiple states which shook the entire country. It is estimated that the scam value was allegedly around Rs. 20,000 crores.

Applause has roped in the talented Kiran Yadnyopavit, known for his contribution to the Marathi film industry, to write and develop the story along with author Sanjay Singh. The series will be helmed by the National award winning director, Hansal Mehta, who continues to collaborate with the franchise after the stupendous success of Scam 1992.

Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment, commented on the development, “Scam 1992 has helped established a solid ground for the ‘Scam’ franchise where we aim to tell stories about the various scams that our country has witnessed, the people behind it, their motivations and machinations. The success of Scam 1992 endorsed our belief about the audiences’ interest in such stories. We are extremely thrilled to announce “The Telgi Story” as the next season. There is some great potential we see in this story and are absolutely delighted to partner once again with StudioNEXT, SonyLIV and Hansal Mehta in taking forward this franchise.”

Danish Khan, EVP & Business Head – Sony Entertainment Television, SonyLIV & StudioNEXT at Sony Pictures Networks India, said,” We are delighted to partner with Sameer Nair and his fantastic team at Applause for season two of Scam. We look forward to collaborate with Hansal Mehta to bring an absolutely compelling show for our Sony LIV Premium Subscribers.”

Hansal Mehta said,  “I am delighted to be back with exploring yet another fascinating story following the immense success of Scam 1992. The new season of this franchise will focus on another riveting story that shook the country a few years ago –  the stamp paper scam. I am looking forward to collaborating again with team Applause, SonyLIV and StudioNEXT, partners who think alike and encourage creative thought.”

‘Scam 2003: The Curious Case of Abdul Karim Telgi’, is being produced by Applause Entertainment in association with StudioNEXT. The riveting series will be hitting the shoot floor later this year and stream exclusively on SonyLIV.

About Applause Entertainment:Applause Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is a leading Content & IP Creation Studio with a focus on premium drama series, films, documentaries and animation content. Led by media veteran Sameer Nair, the studio has produced and released popular series across genres and languages which includes shows like Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, Hostages, Mind The Malhotras, Hasmukh, Hello Mini that have gone on to set new benchmarks in the category.  A venture of the Aditya Birla Group – a US $48.3 billion Indian multinational conglomerate, Applause Entertainment has partnered with leading platforms like Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Sonly LIV, MX Player, Netflix and Eros Now for its creative output.

Social media handles –

Website: http://www.applauseentertainment.in

Twitter: twitter.com/ApplauseSocial

Instagram: instagram.com/ApplauseSocial

Facebook: fb.com/ApplauseSocial

LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/Company/ApplauseSocial

YT: bit.ly/applauseyt

About SonyLIV:SonyLIV is the first Indian premium Video on demand (VOD) service by Sony Pictures Networks’ (SPN) providing multi-screen engagement for users on all devices. Launched in January 2013, the digital streaming player is home to 24 years of rich content from the library of Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) with over 40,000 hours of programming. SonyLIV subscribers get exclusive access to key sporting events from across the globe, the latest Hollywood Shows, Originals, 18,000+ hours of TV Shows, LiveTV, News, Lifestyle, Fitness and Kids content.

With 130 million+ app downloads so far, SonyLIV is the first amongst its competition to provide original and exclusive premium content to Indian viewers. SonyLIV is the first OTT platform to launch an Original web series – #Lovebytes, followed by India’s first Marathi Original – YOLO. Currently, the platform has over 150+ original shows spread across Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali. The Tamil and Telugu library itself boasts of 2000+ hours of Movies and Originals.

Apart from being the official Indian streaming partner for Global Sporting events, SonyLIV keeps its viewers entertained throughout the year with Live action Cricket, Football, Tennis, Basketball, eSports, Racing and Fighting Sports. The platform offers its subscribers a host of premium International tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, Australian Open, Serie A, W.W.E., N.B.A., UFC, F.A. Cup, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Euro 2020, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Mzansi Super League, Big Bash, T10, ATP Tours, Impact Wrestling and The Ashes to name a few. SonyLIV also has rights to the tournaments of Cricket Boards inclusive Cricket Australia, England and Wales Cricket Board & Cricket Ireland. In 2019, the service launched in the Middle East and has plans to expand its complete bouquet of services in several Southeast Asian countries.