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Published 16:24 IST, November 24th 2020

Varun Dhawan was slated to play Harshad Mehta for a Bollywood film?

Varun Dhawan was slated to play Harshad Mehta for a Bollywood film under Paresh Rawal's production banner? A report in an entertainment portal says so. Read.

Reported by: Surabhi Sabat
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The series Scam 1992, which showcases the story of scamster Harshad Mehta, was supposed to be made into a Bollywood biopic. According to a recent report by SpotboyE, the biopic was planned under Paresh Rawal's production years ago, and Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan was locked in to play the lead. Read on for more details on the story. 

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Was Varun Dhawan locked in to play the role of Harshad Mehta in a biopic?

The report stated that Paresh Rawal who was producing the film on the life of Harshad Mehta had chosen the Badrinath ki Dulhaniya actor to play the lead role in the biopic on Harshad Mehta. However, the idea was scrapped later. The rights to make a movie on Harshad Mehta's story was apparently with Paresh Rawal's production company earlier, however, the rights were later acquired by Sameer Nair and Applause Entertainment. They then decided to make a web series on Harshad Mehta, while a Gujarati actor named Pratik Gandhi was then roped in to play the role of the protagonist.

The web series is titled Scam 1992, and actors Pratik Gandhi and Shreya Dhanwanthary played the lead roles in the web series, with direction by Hansal Mehta, while the script credits went to Sumit Purohit, Saurav Dey, Vaibhav Vishal and Karan Vyas. Meanwhile, a Bollywood would also be releasing on the OTT platform titled Big Bull, which would be a retelling of Harshad Mehta's life for a period of 10 years, where Abhishek Bachchan would star as Mehta, while Nikita Dutta and Ileana D'Cruz would be seen in supporting roles.

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The much-acclaimed series, Scam 1992 is adapted from journalist Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu's book, The Scam: Who Won, who Lost, who Got Away. The character of journalist and author Sucheta Dalal was played by Shreya Dhanwanthary. The infamous stockbroker Harshad was known as the Amitabh Bachchan of the stock market. 

Pratik Gandhi, a Gujarati actor, has essayed the lead character named Harshad Mehta. Apart from him, the web-series also featured Sharib Hashmi, Rajat Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi, KK Raina, Satish Kaushik, Lalit Parimoo, etc. play pivotal roles in the story. The story manages to transport the viewers into the 90’s era through its amazing cinematography. The web-series, that currently streams on Sony Liv, was released on October 9. Harshad Mehta was actually arrested in 1992 with several allegations against him for stamp paper fraud, bank receipts fraud, securities fraud, and stock market manipulation. The ten-episode series gave a brief look into the scam and how Harshad worked his way to the top.

ALSO READ| Hansal Mehta Says 'invest In Stories, Not In Stars'; Speaks On 'Scam 1992's Success

Meanwhile, Varun Dhawan is all set for the release of his next movie opposite Sara Ali Khan titled Coolie No. 1. While he has already started filming for his next movie Jug Jugg Jeeyo opposite Kiara Advani. Coolie No. 1 is slated to release this year itself however Jug Jugg Jeeyo is currently being filmed and is expected next year. 

ALSO READ| Scam 1992 Actor Pratik Gandhi To Make Hindi Lead Debut With 'Ravan Leela'

Updated 16:24 IST, November 24th 2020

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