The day Rip-off 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020) dropped on-line, Tushar Hiranandani watched it in a single go. He was so taken by the collection that he known as
creator-director Hansal Mehta at 5.30 am to congratulate him. Three years later, as Rip-off 2003: The Telgi Story premièpurple earlier this month, the roles have been reversed. Hiranandani remembers, “I had switched off my telephone as a result of I used to be scared [of the reactions]. The second I switched it on, the primary name was from Hansal sir. He mentioned, ‘Are you mad? Don’t swap off your telephone. Purchase 5 extra telephones now. The opinions are implausible.’”
Rip-off 2003, based mostly on the stamp paper fraud by Abdul Karim Telgi and fronted by Gagan Dev Riar, has Mehta because the creator-showrunner whereas Hiranandani serves because the director. Was he apprehensive about getting into the Rip-off universe, contemplating the 2020 providing was a runaway hit? “How might I be scared? It couldn’t worsen than sitting at dwelling. I knew what I used to be stepping into, however I by no means took the stress of it. After going by two years of COVID-19, the thrill to do any sort of work was sufficient for me,” he says.
The director is grateful to Mehta not just for trusting him with the present, but additionally for giving him a free hand. “Hansal sir is the baap of OTT. He has reached this place as a result of he’s so giving. He advised me to make Rip-off vibrant and industrial. He gave me absolute freedom to deliver my take to the script. [For a sequence set in a dance bar], he mentioned, ‘I don’t know the world of dance bars. I haven’t even been there.’ So, I assured him that I’d shoot in such a way that he would take pleasure in watching it.”
Undoubtedly, the collection’ largest victory is its main man. So compelling has been Riar’s efficiency that it’s virtually not possible to think about anybody else as Telgi on display screen. And but, Hiranandani admits that he was initially involved whether or not Riar was your best option for the function. “Initially, Hansal sir didn’t let me meet him. Then someday, he known as us over for dinner. Gagan was speculated to be there too, and I used to be advised he was placing on weight for a yr. After I noticed him, I couldn’t cover my disappointment. I mentioned, ‘He doesn’t appear like Telgi.’ I believed he was proficient as a result of Hansal sir selected him, however he didn’t look the half. I took Gagan to a health coach, who made him placed on 15 to 16 kilos extra.” The director says the most important validation got here quickly after, as even the staff engaged on the present couldn’t recognise Riar. “When the advertising staff of Applause Leisure was given the primary look to be put out on social media, they requested, ‘How can we put Telgi’s image? The place is Gagan’s image?’”