When the scam is exposed in The Times of India (the famous headline: "Scam hits stock markets, banks, govt"), the collapse is visceral. Banks freeze. Brokers default. The economy that Harshad "woke up" crashes.

"The stock market is a game of perception. You don’t trade what is; you trade what people believe is."

Into this gray, socialist landscape walked Harshad Shantilal Mehta (played impeccably by Pratik Gandhi), a Gujarati middle-class accountant with a stutter, a sharp suit, and an insatiable hunger.