Sahara Pariwar threatens to sue Hansal over ‘Scam’

Sahara Group founder Subrata Roy was arrested in 2014 and released on bail in 2016. Pic/AFP; Scam 2010 marks the third edition of the franchise; Hansal Mehta; Sandeep Singh

A young man, who apparently sold salted snacks on his scooter in Gorakhpur, rises to establish a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. But his dramatic rise is soon eclipsed by an equally dramatic downfall. The life of the late Subrata Roy, the Sahara Group founder, was in equal parts fascinating and controversial. No wonder then, it has caught the attention of two filmmakers. While producer Sandeep Singh had announced the business tycoon's biopic, Saharasri, in 2020, filmmaker Hansal Mehta announced Scam 2010: The Subrata Roy Saga on Thursday. The third edition of Mehta's successful OTT series is based on Tamal Bandyopadhyay's book, Sahara: The Untold Story.

The recent announcement has sent Singh into a tizzy. "I was shocked when Hansal and Sameer [Nair, Applause Entertainment, producer] announced Scam 3 based on Saharasri's life. Regardless of what the world may think or say about Subrata Roy, I hold him in the highest regard as he is the only business tycoon who remained in India to face all allegations and be jailed for them. He had given me the official rights to make his biopic when I had met him at his Lucknow residence in 2019. His was an interesting zero-to-hero story. He also gave his team to work with me; that's how I met people - from Kapil Dev to Lata Mangeshkar ji, from Akhilesh Yadav to Sachin Tendulkar. I also met his wife and family. He had not only signed the formal agreement that said I possess the legal rights to his story, but also read the script and signed off on it."

Since the 2010s, Roy was under scrutiny after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) found that his company had failed to repay billions of dollars to investors in bonds. He was subsequently arrested in 2014, and released on bail in 2016. Considering the script was monitored by the late tycoon, will the biopic show his chequered past? "Saharasri had said that I had to show the uncompromising truth."

He told me not to lie, so, the movie is an honest account," says Singh. He says he met Nair last November when Scam 3 was at the inception stage. "[It's sad] when friends do this to each other in spite of knowing that I have the rights. When I met him with my writer Rishi Virmani and co-producer Zafar Mehdi, Sameer told me that he wanted to make the Subrata Roy story as Scam 3. My director and I flatly refused and left, as it is not a scam story. We will make it like a Deewar [1975] about a man who started with a capital of Rs 2000 and how he built an empire. Now, Sahara India Pariwar plans to take legal action against the Scam 3 makers. [The company] and I will jointly fight against them. They have no right to make anything on him."

As per its announcement, Scam 3 promises to "reveal the dust-to-diamonds story of the maverick businessman, who was caught in accusations ranging from chit-fund manipulations to fake investors, ultimately leading to his arrest in 2014. With approximately Rs 25,000 crore lying unclaimed with government authorities, the repercussions of the scam continue to reverberate even today."

mid-day reached out to Mehta, who did not wish to comment. Nair did not respond till press time.

Sahara India Pariwar issued a statement objecting to the making of Scam 3 and questioning the use of the word ‘scam' in a case that is still pending. An excerpt from the statement read, "The aggrieved members are seeking advice to take suitable legal action against the producer, director and all those involved in making the illegal portrayal."