Vijay Varma To Portray Real-Life Matka King In New Web Series, Know All About It

Vijay Varma’s latest upcoming project ‘Matka King’ has gained a lot of attention ever since its poster release on Instagram. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, acclaimed for his films ‘Sairat’ and ‘Fandry’, the series delves into the fascinating world of Matka gambling, which captivated India from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Vijay Varma’s web series is inspired by the real-life figure Ratan Khatri, a prominent name in the Matka gambling underworld. The series promises to capture the essence of the era and the rise of Matka gambling.

Who is Ratan Khatri?

Ratan Khatri, regarded as a pioneer of betting in India, hailed from a Sindhi family and moved to India from Karachi during the 1947 partition. PTI reports that Khatri transformed Matka gambling into a nationwide network starting in Mumbai in 1962. Initially working for Kalyanji Bhagat, a well-known Matka King, he eventually branched out independently, creating the Ratan Matka. His clientele reportedly included celebrities and dignitaries worldwide.

Ratan Khatri was jailed during the Emergency and served 19 months. He retired from gambling in the early 1990s and passed away in 2020 at the age of 88.

Matka gambling began with betting on cotton rates from the New York and Bombay Cotton Exchanges. By the 1960s, the system evolved to use random numbers generated through methods like drawing slips from a matka or pulling playing cards, a method Khatri was known for.

‘Matka King’ Synopsis

The team behind ‘Matka King’ shared the synopsis: “Matka King is a fictional tale set in 1960s Mumbai, where an enterprising cotton trader who craves legitimacy and respect starts a new gambling game dubbed Matka.”

Vijay Varma shared a poster on Instagram, depicting himself in a retro look and throwing playing cards at the camera, with the caption, "Ready to place our bet! #MatkaKingOnPrime soon but filming now."

More about the series

‘Matka King’ also features Kritika Kamra, Sai Tamhankar, Gulshan Grover, and Siddharth Jadhav in pivotal roles. The series is produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Nagraj Manjule, along with Gargi Kulkarni, Ashish Aryan, and Ashwini Sidwani, under the banner of Roy Kapur Films. The series will soon be available on Amazon Prime Video.