Scam 2003: The Telgi Story actor Sana Sheikh calls Hansal Mehta genius, describes working with him as amazing and easy | Exclusive

The upcoming spiritual sequel of Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story stars Gagan Dev Riar in titular role.

Sana Sheikh with Hansal Mehta (PC: Instagram)

Sana Sheikh rose to fame with her debut show Kya Mast Hai Life on Disney Channel. Post that the actor was seen in multiple television shows and films including Gustakh Dil on Life Okay and Ajay Devgn starrer Singham among others. She is now all set for her debut with SonyLIV's Scam 2003: The Telgi Story opposite Gagan Dev Riar.

In a recent interview with OTTplay, Sana shared her excitement about her first OTT series, the experience of working with Hansal Mehta-Tushar Hiranandani and more. Excerpts:

Tell us about your chracter and how close and important it is to Abdul Karim Telgi in the show.

So, the show is about Abdul Kareem Telgi doing the biggest 30,000 crore scam. When you see him, you might hate him or you even think that he is a genius. But his vulnerable side, his family side and his love side, you'll see with me. So I can put it that way. So, whenever you see Nafisa and Abdul together, you'll have a smile on your face and their relationship is adorable.

Also Read: Scam 2003 - The Telgi Story: Hansal Mehta wants the world to discover actor Gagan Dev Riar as Abdul Karim Telgi

How did you land the role and what was your reaction when you learnt about this real-life story?

So, long back, when this scam happened, I was not aware of it properly. As the media was covering the juicy angle of the story a person spent around a crore on a bar dancer in a single night and then the guy got caught.

But I came to know the larger picture when I was auditioning for this. Just before the audition, I wanted to do a little prep as an actor to see what exactly I was getting. So then I went on YouTube, I also read a few articles and I came to know that okay, there was a stamp paper scam which happened because this guy was this mastermind and a genius who did this genius idea not in a positive way I'm saying when he put his mind into something not legal. And it was quite intriguing and I think the trailer also says that.

Hansal Mehta, who directed Scam 1992 has helmed and co-directed this one. Did you get a chance to work with him on the set? How different is he from the debut director Tushar Hiranandani?

So, most of my scenes were shot by Tushar Sir. Meanwhile, there were some very very important scenes of mine which Hansal Sir has directed. And those sequences were one-on-one with Telgi. So, I've been privileged and honoured to work with both directors.

Both of them are free flowing both of them let you do what you want to do as soon as you're doing the characters well. Meanwhile, the difference between the two is that Tushar Sir comes and explains everything in the scene and Hansal Sir doesn't do that. I remember, that one of my most emotional scenes was with the latter. I had to perform on a song and Hansal Sir asked me the choice of song, while I told him to play any. But somehow, he knew what I wanted and played exactly my favourite Lata Mangeshkar song which made me crack the scene perfectly. It was a very unsaid understanding between the director and the actor as he played the song that he knew I would know and that made the whole shooting experience amazing and easy and I thought, "Oh my God, what a genius."

Sana, you started off as a child artist but rose to fame with Kya Mast Hai Life, which was one of my favourite shows on the Disney Channel. After that, you were seen on quite a lot of shows and films including Singham. How the journey has been and do you have any regrets about working or may be not working on a project?

I don't think any regrets. Though, when I did Singam, I was already a lead actress on television, I had already a couple of serials before that. And I was open to exploring acting in different formats and that's when I took the role in Singham. And also because it was a key chracter but not a lead role, I had a very relaxing time working on it because I was fed up with working 20-22 hours on television. Thankfully this doesn't happen anymore in television and actors pack up within 12 hours. So because of the huge time pressure I gave up television completely and started working on radios but then I re-joined when the situation was better.

You have worked in multiple formats now including films, television and OTT. How different the characters are shaped in these three formats and which one do you like working in the most?

I think I can't answer that question because I'm the acting is acting either it's film, television or OTT. Irrespective of the format, I would wake up, go to the set, work on my character, shoot for the project and then come home at the end of the day. It's my everyday job and each day I would give it my 100%.

Tell us about your upcoming project.

Right now I'm like this blank paper. The Scam 2003 is coming out and I have been waiting for this for two years. We worked on it and I didn't take up anything in between. Although I did finish 100 episodes of a romantic series for TV but that will come out a little later. And I will talk about it when the time is right and talk about that as well. Meanwhile, with Scam, I'm waiting for the world and the newer (OTT) audience to notice my character in the show as well as to see who Sana is and what she brings to the table. And then I'm hoping for good work to come my way

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