With the title track of Scam 1992 becoming a fan-favourite rather instantly, the musical motif became the ideal piece to serve as the connecting link between the two editions of Hansal Mehta’s Scam franchise. “The makers knew that that would remind people of this [franchise], and that’s why the decision to retain it was taken. However, all the additional music created for this edition was completely fresh because the premise and the era were different. It takes place primarily in the late ’90s, so the sonic palette had to be different, even if it didn’t have to reflect the music of the ’90s, in the actual sense,” says Ishaan Chhabra of the new edition, Scam 2003. 

The story of one of India’s biggest counterfeiting scandals is, by no means, a comical one. But, it was the demeanour of the protagonist, Abdul Karim Telgi, that defined Chhabra’s approach to the project. “Telgi [had] an element of mischief in the way he operated. So, the music had to align with that brief. It couldn’t be a downer. It had to be dark, but it also needed to propel the narrative forward. I had to think of how Telgi would be, as a person, and bring those elements into my music. At the onset, I sent Hansal four thematic ideas, which he liked, and those formed the crux of the score.”