Gagan Dev Riar, who is set to essay the role of the convicted Indian counterfeiter, Abdul Karim Telgi in Scam 2003, was earlier supposed to play the part of Sitaraman, the SBI manager at the centre of the whole securities scam in the first part of the Scam series, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story.
However, despite being the first choice Riar couldn’t take up the role because of date issues.
Talking about his connection with the first season of the show, Riar said, “If not for date issues, I would have been part of the first season of Scam. I was the first choice for the character of Sitaraman, the SBI manager who was at the centre of the whole securities scam, which was later exceptionally played by Jamini Pathak.”
He further mentioned, "However, at that time I was busy with a project and couldn’t take on the role. And later Telgi came into the picture. In the end it all worked out somehow, I did eventually get to be part of the Scam series, this time, as Abdul Karim Telgi."
Helmed by Hansal Mehta and directed by Tushar Hiranandani, Scam 2003: The Telgi Story is based on one of India's biggest scams by Abdul Karim Telgi, which shocked the nation with its unimaginable scale.
The show also stars Sana Amin Sheikh, Bhavana Balsaver, Bharat Jadhav, J. D. Chakravarthy, Bharat Dabholkar, Shashank Ketkar, Talat Aziz, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Vivek Mishra, Hitha Chandrashekhar, Ajay Jadhav and Dinesh Lal Yadav.