There’s a certain unpredictability Vijay Varma brings to the screen—an ease with discomfort, a curiosity for the flawed. In Prime Video’s Matka King, that instinct finds a fascinating new playground. Set in the underbelly of 1960s Bombay, the show traces the rise of Brij Bhatti, a man who turns gambling into a system. In this conversation, Varma unpacks the process of building a character and what it’s like to work with Nagraj Manjule.
You play Brij Bhatti, a cotton trader in 1960s Bombay, in Matka King. Brij Bhatti initiates the gambling system “matka” and democratises a capitalist system. What was your first instinct when you read about Bhatti—the man or the myth?
I think the myth was the illusion that attracted me because I didn’t know what was behind the veil. But the more I knew about the man, the more fascinating the myth became. It’s pretty incredible that somebody who was not from the city came to Bombay, invented a game, and kept reinventing it in a way that became such a huge thing, amassed a crazy following, and made wealth which probably nobody else around his time was making. Yet, he was so principled with the idea that there should be no corruption. The dichotomy of it didn’t miss me —we’re talking about a world of gambling, but also the fact that it was done with utmost sincerity, honesty, and integrity.
How did you approach playing someone who, in the eyes of the world, is wrong?
We kept figuring this out. I think both Nagraj (Manjule) sir and I were equally walking into the unknown, knowing that we didn’t know much, and every day we would figure something out. We shot this for 18–19 days over the span of 10 months, and kept refining it—making it more nuanced and insightful for both of us. Nagraj Sir was equally invested in finding more throughout the process. During the shoot, we met more people who were from that era and part of the matka culture, and more stories came to light, which were integrated into the show. We met some family members, and those stories made it into the narrative. We were open and wide-eyed about this. We were both unaware and curious about the time, the game, the person, the people, and the society.
