Filmmaker Nagraj Manjule, director behind hits like Fandry, Sairat and Jhund, says his foray into OTT with Matka King, starring Vijay Varma, was not a calculated move but a creative shift after the hit fantasy drama Game of Thrones that showed him the unique potential of long-form storytelling.
“There was no question of whether I should do it or not (make an OTT show). When this idea came up, I thought, ‘Let’s do it.'” When I met Sid (Siddharth Roy Kapur, producer) sir, he said he was also thinking about this issue. We were already working on it with Ashwini ji (Sidhwani, producer) and Ashish ji (Aryan, writer). So we worked on it together, Amazon liked it a lot and the work began,” Manjule told PTI in an interview.
The Sairat director said Game of Thrones, the hit HBO drama based on GRR Martin’s books, was the first OTT show he watched during the lockdown and it changed the way he views storytelling.
“A lot of people told me to watch this show (Game of Thrones). When I watched it, I enjoyed it a lot. I realized that (OTT) has a different strength. When you watch it, you keep seeing a long story,” said the filmmaker, who predominantly makes Marathi language films.
Matka King follows the story of Brij Bhatti, a sharp-minded and entrepreneurial cotton trader, who navigates the rapidly changing landscape of 1960s Bombay in search of legitimacy and respect.
The eight-episode series is set in a world of bustling markets, crowded chawls and shifting power dynamics. What begins as an ambitious idea soon takes on a life of its own, attracting people from all walks of life.
Nagraj Manjule, known for narrating stories of caste oppression in films like Fandry, Sairat, Jhund and his short film Pistulya, said Matka King is different from his previous work.
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He said that filmmaking is more about following instincts than following trends and added that he wants to continue expanding his horizons.
“Any story I like, I will do it. I don’t follow the formula of success nor am I afraid of failure. I am a human being and I can make mistakes too. But I would like to grab that opportunity and have the freedom to explore something new as that will drive me,” said Manjule, who is all set to make a period film on wrestling titled Khashaba.
Referring to titles like Homebound and Dhurandhar, he said filmmakers should stay true to their voice.
“We have a wide variety of films in the pipeline like Homebound, Sabar Bonda, Dhurandhar and Pushpa. Those who can make Dhurandhar, Sabar Bonda and Homebound should make those kinds of films and not formula films because something has worked,” he said.
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Nagraj Manjule said his own childhood memories of playing Matka helped him create the world of Matka King, which will debut April 17 on Amazon Prime Video. He recalled how he placed bets on behalf of others in the Matka system.
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“Older people used to tell me to go and do it (place a bet) in a paan or a tea shop for one or two rupees, which was a big amount then. I would remember exactly what they said and play Matka. But I never played Matka myself. I have seen the world and its system. My friends knew it very well and used to play Matka, I talked to them and understood these things when I was doing this series.”
Matka King also stars Kritika Kamra, Gulshan Grover, Sai Tamhankar, Siddharth Jadhav, Girish Kulkarni and Jamie Lever, among others. The series is produced by Nagraj Manjule, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Gargi Kulkarni, Ashwini Sidwani and Ashish Aryan, under the banners Roy Kapur Films, Aatpat and SMR Productions.
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