Hansal Mehta accuses Lucky Baskhar producer of 'borrowing liberally' from his series
New Delh: Director Hansal Mehta has accused producer Naga Vamsi of "borrowing liberally" from his acclaimed web series Scam for the Telugu film Lucky Baskhar, calling the filmmaker "arrogant" in a recent social media post.
Mehta's remarks came after Vamsi made controversial comments during a roundtable interview, where he criticized the Hindi film industry's focus on making films for the elite areas of Mumbai, such as Bandra and Juhu. Vamsi's comments were aimed at veteran producer Boney Kapoor, prompting Mehta to respond on X (formerly Twitter).
In his post, Mehta wrote, “Since this person Mr. Naga Vamsi was being so arrogant, and now that I know who he is: His latest hit as a producer Lucky Baskhar has borrowed liberally from the Scam series.”
Mehta clarified that while he was unhappy with Vamsi's attitude, he was pleased that the story of Scam had found success in another language. He added, “I feel happy that stories travel and a film in another language succeeds in replicating what has worked for us. Everybody wins. Nobody is bigger than the other. That narrative is destructive. Arrogance is even worse.”
Lucky Baskhar, set in the 1990s, tells the story of a lower-middle-class man (played by Dulquer Salmaan) who turns to financial scams in order to support his family while grappling with debt and humiliation. This bears a resemblance to the Scam franchise, which dramatizes real-life financial scandals in India, with the first season focusing on the 1992 stock market scam by Harshad Mehta (played by Pratik Gandhi), and the second season exploring the 2003 stamp paper counterfeiting scandal involving Abdul Karim Telgi (Gagan Dev Riar).
During the same roundtable interview, Vamsi also made a remark about the box-office success of Pushpa 2: The Rule, claiming that "Mumbai didn’t sleep" after the film grossed over Rs 80 crore in a single day. Mehta responded sarcastically, saying, “Chill dude, whoever you are… I live in Mumbai. Been sleeping really well.”
The exchange continued with director Siddharth Anand, known for Pathaan, also taking a swipe at Vamsi. Anand reposted Mehta’s comments, adding, “Mumbai has always been the city that never sleeps ;) It’s ok, I guess some people don’t know our real Mumbai!” He also noted, “And one more thing, I have in fact lived ONLY in Bandra and Juhu both! Just FYI.”
Trade analyst Sumit Kadel criticized Vamsi for disrespecting Boney Kapoor, commenting that arrogance leads to a downfall. Vamsi responded to Kadel's criticism, defending his remarks and clarifying that his conversation with Kapoor was a friendly one. He wrote, “You don’t need to teach us how to respect elders, we respect Boney ji more than you guys do, and there was no disrespect towards Boney ji in that conversation. It was a healthy discussion, and me and Boney ji had a nice laugh and hugged each other after the interview. So please don’t jump to conclusions based on just one clip.”
PTI