Do you know Mahesh Bhatt wanted to make a film on ‘Scam 2003: The Telgi Story’ back in 2004?

Mumbai: Hansal Mehta’s web series Scam 2003: The Telgi Story, released this month, is very much liked by the audience. Directed by Tushar Hiranandani, this series is based on Sanjay Singh’s book Telgi: A Reporter’s Diary. Through this series, the story of Abdul Karim Telgi, the mastermind of the stamp paper scam, has been told. Telgi’s Rs 30,000 crore stamp paper scam shook the entire economy. However, before Hansal Mehta, director Mahesh Bhatt had also planned to make a film on Telgi. This has been disclosed by Sanjay Singh.

Sanjay Singh has recently revealed that filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt had planned to make a film on Telgi in 2004. According to Sanjay Singh, Mahesh Bhatt then called him and said that he wanted to make a film. It will be directed by Pooja Bhatt. Irrfan Khan will play the role of Telgi. Sanjay Singh further adds that the names of Ajay Devgn and Manoj Bajpayee were also discussed.

Sanjay has shared an audio clip on the social media platform ‘X’. It contains some excerpts from his book, ‘Reporter’s ki Diary’. The audio recorded a conversation between Sanjay Singh and Mahesh March 11, 2004. Mahesh Bhatt had called and said, “Sanjay, I am Mahesh Bhatt. I want to make a film on Telgi, some information is needed.”

Sanjay Singh replied, ‘Bhatt Saheb! I am writing a book on the Telgi scam. There are a lot of details in it. Can you tell what kind of information you need? I will give you all the information”. After this, Mahesh Bhatt said that whatever you have written, please email it. After two or three days, Mahesh Bhatt called again.

Sanjay Singh said, ‘Mahesh Bhatt called me again and said that he wants to make a film based on your book. This will be a fact-fiction film. Three days later, Mahesh Bhatt called for a meeting. I was told that Pooja Bhatt will direct and Nilesh Mishra will handle the screenplay.

Notably, Scam 2003: The Telgi Story stars Gagan Dev Riar as the protagonist Abdul Karim Telgi, with Mukesh Tiwari, Sana Amin Sheikh, Bharat Jadhav, and Shaad Randhawa in pivotal roles. The first five episodes of Scam 2003: The Telgi Story webseries were released September 1, 2023, via SonyLIV.