The groundbreaking web series, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story,  was released on Sony LIV and it is the only Indian show to have  a higher IMDb rating (9.6/10) than the likes of Breaking Bad and even Game of Thrones. This show takes us on an incredible adventure to Harshad Mehta's rollercoaster life. Harshad Mehta is till date known to be involved in the biggest financial scam of India. The series is based on a book by Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu, The Scam. The series stars Pratik Gandhi as Harshad Mehta.

The story starts with a narration by one of the characters, Sucheta Dalal. This scene is set in Bombay, during the early 1990s. The episode starts off with a brief description of India in that period, and how it was in the process of development.

Sharad Bellary from SBI visits the Times of India head office, where he is escorted by R.K. Laxman to Kiran Ajgaonkar's office, a business editor. He talks to Kiran about a fraud taking place in the bank. But the explanation becomes very technical for Kiran, so Bellary is taken to the senior finance journalist of TOI, Sucheta, who also happens to be the narrator of the show. He tells her the same story. Fear and concern is very clearly reflected on his face. He tells her about the Rs. 500 crores fraud that has happened in SBI. Sucheta is surprised as well as confused. It can be said that she is trying to believe Bellary's words but the news seemed too shocking to be true. She asks him about the person involved, and here is when the name of the protagonist comes up with a suspicious background music, Harshad Mehta.

Now Harshad's story of starting from scratch unfolds. A description is given of how he was the highest advance taxpayer in 1992 and had a personal holding of Rs. 4000 crores

Now we come to 1979. He belongs to a lower middle class family. He has a big burden on his shoulders because of his father's failed textile business. Harshad did menial jobs to take care of his family. They lived in Ghatkopar, Bombay.

One day after dinner, Harshad and his brother, Ashwin have a disheartening conversation about their poor financial condition. The discussion moves to the share market. Harshad wants to invest in the share market, but Ashwin explains to him the risks involved.

Later at night, while talking to  his wife, she uses a powerful phrase which changes Harshad's perspective- “Risk hai toh ishq hai” He is now serious about the share market. He goes to the office of a broker named Ambala to apply for the role of a jobber, one who works as a middleman in buying and selling shares. But, Ambala says that he is too qualified to be a jobber. After a lot of convincing, Harshad gets the job. Next day, Bhushan, another jobber working for Ambala, takes him to the Bombay Stock Exchange ring where jobbers exchange the dealer's stocks. There he is introduced to Mannu Mundra, also known as ‘Black Cobra’. Mundra is a big name who brings down the market. The more the market falls, the more he earns. Harshad regards him as a bear, who hunts down its prey. Another man, Pranav Sheth is also introduced to him. Pranav keeps the market high for his own benefit. Harshad regards him as a bull, who lifts up its prey for his own good. He has done his research on the basics of the stock market!

Bhushan recommends him to stay away from the ‘Dharavi’ crowd that invests in penny stocks. He must focus on big amounts and big companies. 

The portrayal of the crowd and the craziness to invest in the share market will leave you wonderstruck. Harshad is new to all this, and gets a little messed up with the calculation, making a loss of Rs. 2,000 on his first day. Ambala is quite upset but still keeps him after one apology as Harshad had sold stocks worth Rs. 25,000 on his first day, a major feat for a newcomer. Within a year, he became one of the best jobbers in the Bombay Stock Exchange ring. 

On one such day, while reading the newspaper, Harshad notices the price increase in Premier Auto. He suspects leak in information which led to stock increase in Premier Auto, thus, the sudden increase in price. He, who dreams big and wants to enter the main game, meets Dr. Satam, an important and clever man in the stock market game. Dr. Satam is a general physician, but is well known in the stock market and people  trust him with his moves. Harshad talks his way through, and with his adroit manipulations, he influences Dr. Satam to work with him. Dr. Satam starts providing inside information to Harshad, who capitalises on it to make higher profits. He leaves his job and starts his trading account along with his brother. He does not want to work under the control of other people. He was a man of dignity, who had big dreams and wanted to own this game and be the master of others.

After some days, they shift to a bigger and proper house because Ashwin gets married and the former house did not have enough space.

Harshad is now a broker. He goes to meet Pranav Sheth and wants him to invest in Alwar Pharma. Seeing Harshad profit heavily from this company, Pranav also starts trusting him and joins hands with him.

Now, the story jumps to 1982. He is seen in a brand new car. As soon as he gets out of the car at the stock exchange, chaos is seen all around - the stock market has crashed!. His brother tells him that they have made  a loss of Rs. 10 lakhs.

But, as the narration goes, it was not the end, but the beginning of Harshad's story. 

Coming back to the present, Sucheta calls up some people for investigation, and when she searches for the source who had told her about the fraud, he is seen leaving in a cab from under the TOI office.

The episode is left on a cliffhanger. 

All the minute details like the camera positions and set design of the show are well taken care of by director Hansal Mehta and his crew. Based on a true story, the narrative is so enticing that it keeps you so engaged that you do not check your phone or grab a bite of food in the middle of the episode. The episode bears the promise of binge worthiness of the episodes to come. The popularity of the show is enough to mark it as a 'must watch'.

Episode Rating 4/5