McMafia: All you need to know about this BBC crime drama starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui

The new BBC drama McMafia, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui, delves into the murky depths of global crime exploring the ties between the corporate world and well-heeled mobsters. The Gangs of Wasseypur star plays a corrupt Mumbai importer, Dilly Mahmood, in the much anticipated TV drama. [caption id=“attachment_4287173” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] McMafia, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui (R), delves into the murky depths of global crime exploring the ties between the corporate world and well-heeled mobsters. Twitter/@mcmafiaamc[/caption] So, here’s everything you need to know about McMafia, the miniseries created by Hossein Amini and James Watkins. What is McMafia about? The eight-part series centres around Alex Goldman, played by British actor James Norton (War & Peace, Happy Valley), brought up in England by Russian exiles with mafia ties. Despite a successful career in finance, Goldman is dragged into his family’s past and finds himself caught in an international web involving corrupt politicians and intelligence agencies.

Based in London but taking in cities including Moscow and Tel Aviv, McMafia follows the criminal classes who appear far from mobster stereotypes. “The gangsters have changed, they are not in the shadows anymore. They can be bankers, lawyers, government ministers,” Hossein Amini, co-creator of the series, told AFP. The luxurious lifestyles of the well-dressed polyglots are on show, complete with champagne and caviar.“The line between the underworld and the overworld does not exist any longer,” Amini said at a London screening, noting that these days it was possible to sit next to someone at a restaurant with no idea of their criminal ties. Watkins agreed. “The criminal is becoming corporate and the corporate is becoming criminal,” he said. What is McMafia based on? The drama is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by British journalist Misha Glenny. He chose London as the novel’s focal point in part due to the British capital’s reputation among anti-corruption campaigners as a magnet for questionable wealth, much of which is invested in the luxury property market. Who else is in McMafia?

It ws an overwhelming experience working with James Watkins (Dir) & Hossein Amini (writer) for Mac Mafia
The excitement continues to CROATIA pic.twitter.com/Rz9Mv4QbC6

— Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) December 24, 2016

Other than Siddiqui and Norton, the cast includes Russian actor Aleksey Serebryakov (The Method) and Faye Marsay, a British actress known for her role in “Game of Thrones”. When will McMafia be aired? McMafia premiered on BBC on 1 January, before being distributed by the Amazon Prime online platform a day later.