Web Series Review: Scam 2003 – The Telgi Story Season 2

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

November 3, 2023 - 3:25 PM IST

SCAM 2003 – THE TELGI STORY SEASON 2 is the story of one of the most notorious criminals of modern Indian history. Abdul Karim Telgi (Gagan Dev Riar) lands in a soup after he blows up a huge amount of money in a dance bar. The news spreads far and wide and the politicians and cops on their payroll start demanding a hike in the protection money. On the other hand, a famous Karnataka star, Jivram, gets kidnapped by a sandalwood smuggler, Nijilingam. Abdul is called to help in arranging a large amount of cash. However, things get messed up as the Karnataka police officials, under the leadership of Inspector Rajnikant, start investigating Abdul's activities. Abdul is arrested in Ajmer by the Karnataka cops. Abdul uses his connections to ensure that the case is transferred to the home state of Maharashtra where he has contacts. Sadly, Suryakant Gehlot (Mukesh Tiwari) is given charge, and he won’t rest until Abdul is declared guilty by the court. What happens next forms the rest of the series.

Web Series Review: Scam 2003 – The Telgi Story Season 2

SCAM 2003 – THE TELGI STORY SEASON 1 produced by Applause Entertainment is adapted from the book 'Telgi Scam: Reporter Ki Diary' by Sanjay Singh. Kiran Yadnyopavit, Kedar Patankar and Karan Vyas' story is quite good. Kedar Patankar and Karan Vyas' screenplay, however, is not as effective and simple, as it was in Season 1. Also, the earlier season had far more massier moments than this one. Karan Vyas' dialogues are clap worthy and very smart.

Tushar Hiranandani's direction is decent. A few scenes stand out like Abdul finding out that he's HIV positive and the sequence thereafter, Abdul's arrest in Ajmer, Suryapratap's dramatic appeal in the court and Suryapratap doing a 'Kaun Banega Crorepati'-style interrogation of Abdul. The use of real-life footage of Abdul in the climax comes as a nice surprise. It's also amusing to see how the politicians and policemen of Maharashtra and Karnataka play games over the arrest of Abdul.

On the flipside, this season is devoid of massy scenes, which were present in abundance. A few developments are confusing and even sudden. The season also drags in the last two episodes. Moreover, the decision to divide the season into 2 parts takes away the impact to a huge extent because viewers are bound to forget the little details of Season 1, which play an important role here.

Speaking of performances, Gagan Dev Riar continues to rock the show, and this is truly one of the best performances of the year. Sana Amin Sheikh (Nafisa) is lovely. Nikhil Ratnaparkhi (Ganesh Kamble; lawyer) is fine but is hardly there. Aman Verma (CP Suri) is fair. Mukesh Tiwari is the surprise of the season. Shashank Ketkar (JK) delivers a great performance. Sachin Pilagonkar (More), Shaad Randhawa (Fahim Shaikh) and Bharat Dabholkar (Jadhav) are wasted. The actors playing Parveen the bar dancer, Pramod Jaisingh, DCP Halani and journalist Sanjay Singh are great.

Ishaan Chhabra's music is forgettable. The two songs don't get registered. But Ishaan Chhabra's background score is in sync with the show's mood. Stanley Mudda's cinematography is neat. Madhusudhan N's production design is realistic. The same goes for Arun J Chauhan's costumes. Kunal Walve's editing is weak.

On the whole, SCAM 2003 – THE TELGI STORY SEASON 2 is an average fare and suffers due to a gap between the first and second seasons, complicated narrative and lack of massy moments.

Rating – 2.5 stars