Sony LIV is moving ahead with the latest instalment of its Scam crime drama franchise, with Scam 2010: The Subrata Roy Saga now in production.
According to Deadline, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), the streaming platform’s parent company, confirmed that it has secured the rights to produce the series, which is based on journalist Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s book Sahara: The Untold Story.
The development comes after legal concerns were raised by Sahara India Pariwar, the company founded by the late businessman Subrata Roy.
Sahara had previously indicated that it could take legal action, arguing that the fictionalised portrayal of events could affect its ongoing dispute with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
During a roundtable with journalists, SPNI Managing Director and CEO Gaurav Banerjee was asked whether the issue had been resolved.
“I believe so,” he said.
An SPNI representative later confirmed that the company had secured the necessary rights to the book.
“We have all the rights of the book in place [to produce the series],” the representative said.
Sahara had strongly criticised the announcement of the series when it was first revealed in 2024, calling it an “abusive and grossly condemnable act” intended to gain publicity.
Scam 2010 was originally announced as the story of Subrata Roy’s rise from modest beginnings to becoming a prominent businessman.
The series is now described as chronicling “the rise and fall of a massive financial empire”.
Roy founded Sahara India Pariwar in 1978 and went on to build one of India’s largest business groups. He died in 2023 at the age of 75.
His business empire later became embroiled in a major dispute with SEBI over funds collected from investors.
Roy was arrested in 2014 after failing to comply with a court order related to the repayment of money to investors.
The legal concerns surrounding the series had appeared to delay production. However, Banerjee confirmed that filming has now begun.
The third instalment reunites Applause Entertainment and director Hansal Mehta, who previously worked on the first two Scam series, with Sony’s Studio Next.
According to reports in the Indian media, Siddharth Bodke will portray Subrata Roy. Kritika Singh, Moon Banerjee and Aditya Srivastava are also reportedly part of the cast.
The series is based on Bandyopadhyay’s book and dramatises events surrounding Roy’s business empire and the controversies that eventually engulfed it.
