‘Lucky Bhaskar’ Movie Ending Explained And Story: Was Bhaskar Arrested In Harsha Mehra’s Scam?

The Harshad Mehta Securities Scam of 1992 is considered the biggest fraud to have taken place in the history of our country. The scam is still spoken about for the money made by the culprit and other bank officials and stockbrokers. Hansal Mehta’s 2020 show Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story is one of the most accurate depictions of the case, and it generated quite the buzz about the scam that shook the Indian economy. Using the Harshad Mehta case as a base, Venky Atluri’s new Telugu-language film Lucky Bhaskar tells the tale of a man who basked in the glory of the riches he made through the scam until reality caught up to him.

Spoilers Ahead

Why was Bhaskar questioned by the CBI?

Lucky Bhaskar began with Bhaskar Kumar talking about his life in the city of Mumbai, where he grew up as the older son of a chartered accountant who was duped of a lot of money by his friends under the pretext of starting a business. Bhaskar has lived a middle-class life with his wife, son, father, sister, and brother ever since. He had hoped to live a lavish life where he could afford anything in the world. The story began in 1992 when Bhaskar, the AGM (Assistant General Manager) of Magadha Bank, was called in for questioning by the CBI. CBI wanted to investigate the amount of money he’d made in the period of half a year since he was made AGM with the Mumbai branch. CBI officer Laxman Rao was appalled to find 100+ crore INR in his bank account and was curious to know more about this man.

What was Bhaskar’s first scam?

Bhaskar’s life story was explained through flashbacks. He began his job at Magadha Bank as a cashier and had hoped to become the assistant regional manager of the branch. His hopes were shattered when his colleague was promoted. Around that time, an illegal electronics salesman named Antony had approached Bhaskar and his best friend Samba, the peon, for a bank loan. The loan was needed for a bribe to be given to the customs officer to release his items. Initially, Bhaskar and Samba were not keen on offering the loan because of the bank rules. However, since he hadn’t been promoted in the office, to get back at his bank, Bhaskar took advantage of his position, stole the amount Antony required, and asked for a cut of the profit the man will make by illegally selling the electronic goods. After receiving the profit, Bhaskar would place the amount he stole from the bank vault to avoid suspicion. This illicit money-making business went on for a while until Antony left for the USA to live with his son. Soon after, Bhaskar’s boss and two of his colleagues were fired for swindling bank money  and taking bribes. 

Why was Bhaskar promoted?

Bhaskar was never caught by his bank officials or the police for the crime he committed right under their noses. To his surprise, he was promoted to the post of AGM in the wake of three important bank officials being thrown in jail for taking advantage of their position. Bhaskar was considered clean and given the chance to prove himself.

How did Bhaskar know Suraj?

Bhaskar was asked by his bosses to take care of Harsha Mehra as he was a crucial client in the bank. Suraj, who represented Harsha Mehra and his firm Grow High, approached Bhaskar with a bank receipt from Katari Bank. Bhaskar approved the bank receipt but was appalled by the amount of money found in Harsha Mehra’s account and noticed discrepancies in Grow High’s account as well. Bhaskar found out the bank’s money was being invested in the stock market, and on earning the profit, the money acquired from the exchange of bank receipts was given back to the bank for the upkeep of the ledger. 

Bhaskar also learned Katari Bank’s AGM had taken a bribe from Harsha Mehra to break the coveted RBI’s rules. He decided to make some money off the arrangement. Bhaskar asked for a percentage of the profit from Suraj and additional stock trading tips that would benefit him. He channeled the black money he received from Grow High and converted it into white by rigging the lottery results after buying the lottery tickets. 

What changed Bhaskar’s mind?

Bhaskar’s plan was working, and he made exponential money from this arrangement. Everything was going well until Katari Bank’s manager stated he never signed off on bank receipts of more than nine crore INR, which shocked Bhaskar. Both realized countless fake bank receipts were in circulation, and they had just unearthed a massive financial scam that could lead to the Indian economy collapsing. The manager of Katari Bank died of a stroke almost immediately due to stress caused by worry of being named in the scam if it was ever exposed. His death changed Bhaskar’s attitude towards Harsha Mehra and his way of making money. 

How did Bhaskar resist getting embroiled in a scam?

Bhaskar began to reject Harsha Mehra’s fake bank receipts and asked Suraj to clear the debts accumulated by his boss. Katari Bank’s manager’s death deeply affected Bhaskar and he began to reflect on his association with Suraj. Suraj went on to let Bhaskar’s boss know about his unwillingness to accept the bank receipts. Bhaskar soon learned his boss and the chairman of the Magadha bank were in on the scam as well and wanted to make money too. On being forced to sign the bank receipts, Bhaskar offered his resignation letter as he refused to get embroiled in a scam that was built on the dead bodies of people. Bhaskar had something left of his conscience and chose to live by that. 

Was Bhaskar’s boss behind the CBI raid?

Lucky Bhaskar moves back to 1992, when the CBI was questioning Bhaskar’s role in aiding Harsha Mehra and Suraj of Grow High consultancies. Bhaskar was surprised to find out the CBI raid was carried out to corner him. His boss was in on it to further arm twist Bhaskar and force him to agree to sign the bank receipts. Bhaskar soon understood he wouldn’t be able to get out of this without the consent of his bosses who were present at the office. Since they assumed Bhaskar had resigned, he would have to part with the money he earned from the scam. Bhaskar was cornered, and he knew there was no way out but to agree with his bosses. His bosses let him know he ticked them off when he approached the RBI, claiming there was a financial scam being harbored by Magadha Bank. Both wanted to teach Bhaskar a lesson by forcing him to sign the bank receipts and checks. He would be made the scapegoat if the scam broke out. 

Was Bhaskar arrested in Harsha Mehra’s securities scam?

It was the next day after Bhaskar signed the checks that the bosses realized those could not be debited. flashback revealed Bhaskar had emptied his account and closed it. He turned out to be an intelligent man  who’d made several plans before his bosses could corner him. He was smarter than all of them to have saved himself and his family from being dragged into the scam that was about to break. Bhaskar had carried out a scam before, and no one was able to catch him. This could make him smarter than Harsha Mehra himself, who was eventually caught. 

Bhaskar flew to America with his family using the money debited from his account. He was adamant about not humiliating his family and saving them from a lifetime of shame. He flew away to America with the help of his old friend Antony. Bhaskar got himself an American visa by investing a huge amount of capital which was to purchase a hotel in his name. This was the fastest way to acquire a green card as per the rules back then and he had to move to America with it to avoid extradition. As Magadha Bank’s bosses were called in for questioning after the RBI’s raid of the office, their role in Harsha Mehra’s fraud was unearthed in no time. The bosses were arrogant because of the power they held, and had expected Bhaskar to take the fall. 

Bhaskar was involved in the crime as well, and was not a good person himself. He had to face the death of a peer to shake him out of his greed. It was the loss of life that changed Bhaskar’s trajectory and drove him to live life as an honest citizen now that he was settled in America. Bhaskar’s now ex-boss realized he’d laid out a meticulous trap to make sure he remained untouched by the authorities and left the country way before the scam broke. Bhaskar did it for his family because he could not tolerate his father and wife facing shame at his behest. A new business in a foreign country was a good way to start, and he was successful in doing so.

Lucky Bhaskar ended with Bhaskar living in Boston as the owner of the hotel he had purchased and residing in a palatial home with his family. Bhaskar got an American Express credit card for himself and his wife Sumathi. This was also an indication of his success and his strive to earn money the right way. His wife most likely knew something had gone wrong in Bombay, which was why they had to move to another country. She trusted Bhaskar would do the right thing for his family. Bhaskar was sharp witted, and some luck worked in his favor too as he knew when to enter and exit the game.