Vijay Varma relates to ‘Matka King’ role; says, ‘came to Mumbai with just a suitcase and dreams’

Actor Vijay Varma on Tuesday said like his character in the upcoming series "Matka King", he landed in Mumbai with just one pair shoes, a suitcase and a bag full of books.

"Matka King", directed by Nagraj Popatrao Manjule of "Sairat" and "Jhund" fame, is a new series on Prime Video. Set in the 1960s Mumbai, the series revolves around Varma's Brij Bhatti, an enterprising cotton trader, who starts a new gambling system called 'Matka', making it into a major sensation across the country.

Varma said his character's journey is similar to what he went through when he came to the city to look for acting opportunities.

"He (Brij) came to Mumbai after Partition with his brother when he was seven. Gradually, he started doing all kinds of work, got married, got a house and a job but he is not allowed to dream as a middle-class man and he questions this. The story is said to be inspired by the life of Ratan Khatri, considered by many as one of the betting pioneers in India.




"His quest to find out why he is not allowed to dream and he wants to dream big, that is something to the life that I've led. I too came to Mumbai with a suitcase, three pairs of clothes and a pair of shoes, and a bag full of books. I feel that was the connection that I found with the character," Varma said at the trailer launch of the show here.

A Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) graduate, the actor rose to prominence after a series of small roles. He broke out in a big way with Zoya Akhtar's "Gully Boy" in 2019 and went on to headline projects like "Darlings", "Dahaad", "Mirzapur", "She", "Jaanejaan" and "Gustakh Ishq".

Praising Manjule's mastery over his craft be it "Sairat", "Fandry" or "Jhund", Varma said he was amazed that the director decided to work with him.

"It was my dream to work with him (Nagraj). When I would watch his films, I would be amazed that he cast me? He doesn't need actors, like his first film 'Fandry' had non-actors, in 'Sairaat', he launched two lead actors and in 'Jhund', apart from Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, the entire cast is rank newcomers.

"I was like non-actors work so well in his films. I thought I'll be exposed 'meri acting pakadi jayegi'. I had to unlearn a lot to work with this gentleman. He is one of the finest we've. I can't wait to work more with him. If I've done a decent job, please work with me again."

On a query about how the character of Hamza played by him in 2022 film, "Darlings" and his "Gully Boy" co-star Ranveer Singh playing it in "Dhurandhar", Varma called it "coincidence" and an interesting piece of movie "trivia".

In "Darlings", Varma played Hamza Shaikh, an alcoholic, manipulative, and abusive husband to Alia Bhatt's character, while Singh's Hamza is an undercover Indian agent, who infiltrates Karachi's high-stakes criminal and political underworld to dismantle a terror network.

Varma, who Ranveer's friend Moeen Arif in the movie, credited the Zoya Akhtar-directed movie for changing his life.

"'Gully Boy' was a significant moment in my life. I was down in the dumps when that film happened to me, it saved me and gave me a career. I'm thankful to do that film. With Ranveer, he is the one finest co-actor I've worked with. With Hamza he has hit it out of the park, when life throws Hamza at you, make it like a 'Dhurandhar' Hamza and not like a 'Darlings' Hamza," Varma joked.

"Matka King" also stars Kritika Kamra, Gulshan Grover, Sai Tamhankar, Siddharth Jadhav, Girish Kulkarni and Jamie Lever among others. It is set to debut on April 17 on Prime Video.

The series is produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Manjule, Gargi Kulkarni, Ashwini Sidwani, and Ashish Aryan, under the banners of Roy Kapur Films, Aatpat, and SMR Productions.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”