# Scam 2003: The Telgi Story (2023)

> A dramatization of how Abdul Karim Telgi built one of India's most ingenious fraud networks, spreading a counterfeit stamp-paper scam across 18 states.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/147460

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 44 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Hansal Mehta
- Network: SonyLIV
- Cast: Gagan Dev Riar, Sana Amin Sheikh, Shashank Ketkar, Mukesh Tiwari, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Nandu Madhav, Abhinay Bansod, Bharat Dabholkar
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28804856/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: gritty, tense, sober, dramatic

## What critics say

Critics broadly praised the lead performance and the period detail of this true-events crime drama, while finding its tone sober and its storytelling less gripping than its predecessor.

## Synopsis

Scam 2003: The Telgi Story is a ten-episode Indian crime miniseries created by Hansal Mehta for SonyLIV, dramatizing the rise of Abdul Karim Telgi, a petty figure from Khanapur in Karnataka who built a counterfeit stamp-paper network spanning eighteen states. Gagan Dev Riar plays Telgi as an ambitious outsider who learns that forged documents, bribes and compliant officials can carry a scheme far beyond his reach. The drama runs on the tension between his hunger and the machinery of bureaucrats and police who profit from him, while investigators chase him through files, offices and shifting loyalties. Sana Amin Sheikh, Shashank Ketkar, Mukesh Tiwari and Sameer Dharmadhikari add supporting pressure as the web of deceit tightens. Set in early two-thousands India, the series carries a sober, gritty atmosphere of grimy ambition and institutional decay. Its mood is tense and dramatic rather than sensational, with the national shock of the scam shaping every episode. Viewers drawn to true-events crime stories about con artists and corrupt systems will find a patient, paperwork-driven portrait of how one man exploited a government that looked the other way.

## Shows like Scam 2003: The Telgi Story

- [Sacred Games (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/68329)
- [Dabba Cartel (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/163368)
- [Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/92747)
- [Black Warrant (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/185759)
- [Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1104891)
- [Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/95964)
- [Jamtara – Sabka Number Ayega (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/81708)
- [Khakee: The Bihar Chapter (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/134592)
- [Delhi Crime (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/74306)
- [Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/116689)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt