Hansal Mehta says he had to ’emotionally blackmail’ Harman Baweja to act in web series Scoop

Hansal Mehta’s next is a crime drama titled Scoop with Karishma Tanna in the lead role. The Netflix web series also features actor Harman Baweja who is making his OTT debut. The actor broke his acting sabbatical with the project and Hansal revealed that he had to resort to ’emotional blackmail’ to be a part of the project and act. (Also read: Scoop trailer: Karishma Tanna plays a crime journalist who herself becomes the story in Hansal Mehta’s gripping drama)

Harman Baweja is the son of director Harry Baweja. He made his acting debut with the sci-fi film Love Story 2050 in 2008. It failed at the box office and he went on to do other films like Victory and What’s Your Raashee in 2009. Harman had a long break from acting. His films Dishkiyaoon (2014) and It’s My Life (2020) were shot long ago and had delayed releases. Hansal said that both he and casting director Mukesh Chhabra thought Harman was a good fit for the role. He asked Mukesh to suggest his name to Netflix and thankfully they agreed on the casting choice as well.

Speaking to News18, the filmmaker shared how he pushed Harman into the role of a police officer. Hansal said, “He had sort of given up on his acting career and he was producing and doing quite well as a producer and I had to convince him that ‘Please, do this.’ I had to finally emotionally blackmail him. I’ve known him since he was 18-19 years old. I finally told him that you have to do this for me. You are doing this for me and you’re doing this for your father. He will be proud when he sees this. He asked me, ‘Are you sure? It’s a small role.’ I told him, ‘It’s not a small part and your father will be very proud when he sees you on screen, you will be seen as an actor.”

The actor had produced Hansal’s film Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? in 2002 as well as other Punjabi films like Jinne Jamme Saare Nikamme and Honeymoon in recent years. He had been focusing more on his role as producer.

Produced by Matchbox Shots, Scoop is adapted from Jigna Vora’s book, Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison. It features Karishma as crime reporter Jagruti Pathak who finds herself as the prime accused in the shocking murder of another journalist. Prosenjit Chatterjee, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Deven Bhojani and Tannishtha Chatterjee are also part of the cast. Scoop will premiere on Netflix on June 2, 2023.