With National Award-winning filmmaker Hansal Mehta returning to direct Scam 2010 — starring Siddharth Bodke as Sahara Group founder Subrata Roy— Applause Entertainment, Birla Studios, and Sony LIV are bringing one of India’s most polarising financial sagas back to the screen. Adapted from journalist Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s book ‘Sahara: The Untold Story’, the upcoming series charts the rise and unravelling of Roy’s empire.

????️ LIGHTS. SCAM-ERA. ACTION

History has another story to tell!#Scam2010 is officially in production. Get ready for another gripping chapter. ????

Streaming soon, only on Sony LIV.

Produced by Birla Studios & Applause Entertainment
Directed by Hansal Mehta#Scam2010 #SonyLIV pic.twitter.com/M07UpbJRJG

— Sony LIV (@SonyLIV) August 12, 2026

Long before Subrata Roy came to symbolise one of the most protracted legal battles in Indian corporate history, he was a mechanical engineering graduate from Gorakhpur trying to turn a small financial operation into something larger. In 1978, he took over Sahara Finance, a struggling chit fund enterprise.

Roy recognised an untapped reality of post-liberalisation India: millions of low-income workers, street vendors, and rural households lacked access to formal banking. By dispatching an army of field agents to collect tiny daily and monthly deposits, Sahara gathered small change from India’s vast unbanked population and built a pool of capital that rivalled mainstream institutions.

By the early 2000s, Sahara India Pariwar claimed over 90 million depositors, representing nearly 13% of Indian households. Time magazine eventually labelled it the second-largest employer in the country, behind only the Indian Railways.

The Culture of Invincibility

As the capital grew, so did the myth of “Saharasri.” Roy transformed Sahara from a Lucknow-based financial entity into a sprawling global empire encompassing real estate, media, airlines, Formula 1, and sports sponsorships. His personal aura expanded alongside it. He hosted lavish multi-day weddings for his sons, attended by global dignitaries and prime ministers, acquired iconic international properties such as London’s Grosvenor House and New York’s Plaza Hotel, and built the private township of Aamby Valley near Pune. Behind the glitz also lay an unmatched political clout across party lines.

The Crack

However, beneath the facade of populist benevolence ran persistent allegations of shadow banking and systemic illicit activity. Income Tax investigations dating back to the late 1990s repeatedly flagged Sahara as a conduit for laundering untaxed political and bureaucratic funds, citing extensive lists of depositors who could never be physically located.

The turning point arrived when two group companies raised over ₹24,000 crore through Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures (OFCDs). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) determined that this massive capital raising, conducted across millions of investors without public listing disclosures, violated regulatory laws. SEBI demanded a full refund with interest.

Roy insisted that 95% of investors had already been repaid directly in cash, but regulators questioned the authenticity of the records, giving rise to the infamous “phantom depositors” saga—where millions of claims existed on paper, but virtually no real investors appeared to claim the money held in escrow.

The Downfall and Tihar Incarceration

The confrontation reached its boiling point in February 2014 when Roy failed to appear before the Supreme Court in a contempt case, leading to his arrest and incarceration in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Roy spent over two years in Tihar before being released on parole in 2016. He spent his final years navigating continuous legal battles, court-mandated asset auctions, and failed attempts to pivot into new sectors like electric vehicles and online education, claiming political witch-hunts until his death in November 2023 at the age of 75.

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