“Hisaab Barabar” could be translated to ‘all debts are sorted.’ This is a human interest story that talks about the predicament of the middle class and the extent to which a person can go to save their hard-earned money. TTE Radhe Mohan is branded a miser, but as a father, he understands the value of hard-earned money. His inquisitiveness helps him unearth a scam being carried out by a bank.
Was TTE Radhe Mohan Sharma a miser?
TTE Radhe Mohan Sharma was a middle-class single father who was raising a son in the city of Delhi. His wife had left him, stating he was boring, and ever since, he spent every day living for his son and earning extra money by teaching accounting and mathematics to poor children. Radhe Mohan Sharma was also known to be a miser, as he spent money very judiciously, which made him the butt of jokes amongst his friends and colleagues for trying to save money all the time. He had also hired his neighbour Monalisa to be a babysitter to his son Manu during his working hours. Monalisa was slightly over the top, but she only meant well.
What was the scam run by Mickey Mehta of DO Bank?
Mickey Mehta, one of the richest bankers in the country, was known to be flamboyant as well. He was a corrupt businessman and had Minister Dayal on his side, giving all kinds of support to make him richer. Mickey Mehta, on the outside, led many to believe his bank was for the needy and the middle class; he made sure his employees were trained to distract the customer from the real problem. It was Radhe Mohan who noticed a meager INR 27.50 was missing from his account, which he found out during his routine checkup on his expenses. On asking the bank about it, they were unable to help him initially, but soon they offered him and his friends an LED TV and returned the money in no time since it was a small amount.
Since Radhe Mohan was good at accounting and mathematics, which many perceived to be boring, he was able to crack the scam carried out by DO Bank, which many of his colleagues and friends were simply unaware of. Radhe Mohan unearthed that DO Bank was stealing one day of money from the customer’s account before the rate of interest was changed on the increase of the amount in the account. The amount deducted was small, but in retrospect, since the bank has crores of accounts because of their reach, the total value exceeded INR 100 crores. There are no taxes paid on this money, and it becomes black, which eventually hurts the economy. Radhe Mohan was proud to have figured out this scam, and there was also an old man who was seen recording him explaining how this system works in DO Bank.
Was the police not helpful?
The only way to stop Mickey Mehta and the scam he was sitting on was to get the bank statements from the establishment. He was helped by a credit card salesman with DO Bank who delivered him all the bank statements that would prove the existence of a scam.
Radhe Mohan filed a case against the bank with evidence, but the police were not sure if his claims had any truth to them. The person assigned to the investigation was the woman Radhe Mohan had been meeting regularly on his train. Poonam Subhash and Radhe Mohan got friendly and were genuinely attracted to each other, and yet she never revealed her profession to him. Poonam Subhash could not play favorites, yet she knew her peers at the station would want to side with the rich bankers. The bankers were asked to offer evidence to counter Radhe’s proof of the scam. As expected, the bank doctored their documents, and since they had the money, power, and influence, the police were forced to believe the bank and not TTE Radhe Mohan.
Why was TTE Radhe Mohan Sharma arrested?
Radhe Mohan was soon afraid that his son’s safety was in danger, as the person who helped him get the original documents was beaten to a pulp by the goons hired by the bankers. The same man pleaded with Radhe Mohan to make sure Mannu was always around him to avoid being kidnapped by Mickey Mehta’s men. Radhe Mohan took his evidence to court, and the judge dismissed him, citing his evidence did not match with the bank. As a result, Radhe Mohan was briefly arrested for filing false claims against the bank, and Mickey Mehta used this opportunity to glorify his work as a scammer and how he understands the pulse of the account holders in his bank. He claimed people do not care much about losing a meagre amount to large corporations yet they fight with local vegetable vendors for the same small amount. This proves anyone with money would consider the poor to be fools and easily manipulated.
Poonam, on the other hand, was aware the scam was still taking place and that her peers had taken bribes to remain mum about it and let Radhe Mohan take the fall. She was also accused of favoring him since both had been seen hanging out with each other long before she was assigned the case to investigate. Poonam was helpless at this point, and all she could wait for was for Mickey to make a mistake.
Was Radhe Mohan suspended from his job?
Mickey Mehta received a call from the RBI chairman about a complaint filed by Radhe Mohan, and she warned him to avoid any scandal. Radhe had to take some detailed steps to make sure his voice was heard. He wanted to help the people and hoped unearthing the scam would expose bad businessmen like Mickey.
Mickey was shaken on hearing these complaints and had to use the only way he had out, which was to harass and ostracize Radhe Mohan to make him keep quiet. Radhe was not afraid of the status quo as he was aware of his rights as a citizen and went ahead all guns blazing. Radhe Mohan should have expected Mickey would retaliate, and he did so by making tall claims about his home being an illegal construction. This was followed by Radhe being suspended from his job over the accusation of not paying back the money he collected as a fine from a passenger.
Radhe Mohan should have expected this from a rich brat like Mickey, and that was his biggest flaw. Radhe saw the world from his point of view and hoped Mickey would have the good heart to not go after a middle-class man. Mickey went out of his way to humiliate Radhe Mohan in front of his family just to showcase his money and influence. As a typical rich man, he should have been expected to behave like someone who lives and breathes hoarding crores of money.
Was Mickey Mehta arrested?
On the night Mickey went out of his way to demean Radhe Mohan in front of his son, Mannu, many workers and people living in the area came forward to help the helpless and forced Mickey to leave the spot in no time. This scene was added to prove that even the rich were scared of the general population, who could make or break them if they united. Mickey was so out of touch with reality, he had to run away at the sight of people from the middle and lower middle classes confronting him about his bullying tactics. Turns out, most of the people who helped Radhe Mohan were sanitary workers, cleaners, and janitors who had opened accounts in DO Bank after a small drive they conducted.
The bank assumed they were a vulnerable community, and baiting them with attractive offers was the only way to get them to do business with the bank. He forgot that people can rise above and educate themselves and question men like him. One of the people who saved Radhe Mohan had recorded the video of him explaining the scam to his friends at the mall, and he used the footage as reason to close his account with DO Bank. This person was smart enough to make the right decision, which helped Radhe realize his words had the power to influence, and people could look beyond the lies DO Bank was concocting. Since they were in large numbers, all of them started to close their accounts with DO Bank as a way to get back at the owners of the establishment and destabilize them. This could force Mickey and his team to use the black money and make it white to save his bank.
People going out in large numbers to close their accounts was the only move needed for Mickey to get a taste of his own medicine. This move was paralyzed the bank while it made Radhe Mohan happy. He did not have to go and file any complaint since people showed their power and almost bankrupted Mickey. All Radhe Mohan and his sea of supporters had to do was get their hands on the black money and make sure Mickey was arrested. Everything from this point was outlandish, as the makers had to prove Mickey was a bad person while Radhe Mohan was a saint. Mickey was aware he would have to leave the country with all the black money before he was arrested for the scam. Since the situation had gotten out of hand, Mickey was helpless, and nobody in power could help him since the matter had become political, and politicians had to save their seats.
Mickey planned to leave the country, and had parted with a large chunk of his money for Minister Dayal, who would use all of his power to help his business partner leave the country. This was a classic maneuver for Mickey’s arrest that would be troublesome for Dayal as well. On the other hand, Radhe Mohan was able to get himself out of the suspension using his smart techniques. He was aware the suspension was a mere roadblock Mickey had tried to place in front of him. Mickey underestimated Radhe Mohan’s honesty, and that cost him his company. Only minutes before Mickey was about to fly out from Delhi, his bags were seized by customs. To his horror, the bags contained cow dung, and his actual bags had been switched at the airport thanks to Radhe Mohan’s loyalists, who were essentially the common people. He, along with Poonam, had carried out this mission, and many people came forward to help him arrest Mickey Mehta.
“Hisaab Barabar” ended with Radhe Mohan handing over the black money to the police in no time. This came easily to him as his sole purpose was to help people and return the money to those it belongs to. The ending was caricaturish and cliched, and the makers used the classic good vs. evil outcome. The good always wins, and Radhe Mohan did, thanks to his resilience and help from the people and Poonam herself. The last shot has Radhe Mohan and Poonam conversing about their plan they executed and how it helped them achieve their goal, which was to put Mickey and Dayal in prison. The two corrupt men were aware of the jail time they would be facing in the foreseeable future.
“Hisaab Barabar” is now streaming on Zee5 Global with subtitles.
