Who was Subrata Roy, the businessman who inspired Hansal Mehta’s show?

After all the successful previous installments, Hansal Mehta is set to be back with Scam 2010. The story is apparently inspired by late businessman Subrata Roy, the founder of Sahara Group. The show, which is now in its filming stage, is going to intrigue you and show what it has in store for viewers. If the idea this time has grabbed your attention, here’s everything to know about the real story behind it.

Scam 2010 true story

Inspired by journalist Tamal Bandhyopadhyay’s book Sahara: The Untold Story, Scam 2010 is said to follow the life of Subrata Roy. It is going to explore the businessman’s journey of building a small business and turning it into a massive empire that ventured into finance, media, hospitality, real estate, and aviation.

Things took a turn for Sahara when Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. (SHICL) raised crores from investors via Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures, pushing SEBI to take action because of alleged security regulation violations.

In August 2012, the Supreme Court then upheld SEBI’s position and asked the companies mentioned to refund Rs 24, 000 crore and 15% interest to investors. ​

In March 2014, everything took a turn. Subrata Roy was sent to Tihar Jail as he failed to comply with the court’s orders and also appear before the honorable court.
He was in custody for two years and was granted parole in 2016.

Roy then passed away in 2023, but the Sahara-Sebi dispute and efforts to return money to the investors continued. ​

The Scam series

Hansal Mehta has been a key creative force behind the Scam franchise. He directed Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, which chronicled the rise and fall of stockbroker Harshad Mehta, and later served as the showrunner for Scam 2003: The Telgi Story, based on Abdul Karim Telgi’s infamous stamp paper scam.

Who is playing the role of Subrata Roy?

Siddharth Bodke, who is a Marathi actor, is all set to play Subrata Roy’s role. Bodke has a theatre background and has had an extensive career in Marathi TV and cinema. He has also been a part of Hindi television since he did a show called Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Mein. He also earned a lot of recognition for the movie Ananya. In terms of Hindi cinema, he earned a lot of love for playing David in Ajay Devgn and Tabu’s Drishyam.