Ahead of the premiere of Matka King on Prime Video, creator, writer and director Nagraj Popatrao Manjule has shared insights into shaping the world of the series and working with actor Vijay Varma, who plays the central character Brij Bhatti. Speaking about collaborating with Vijay Varma, Manjule described the actor as deeply involved in understanding his character and the story’s emotional layers.
He said: “Vijay is a fantastic actor, and what I truly admire about him is how deeply he thinks about his character. He constantly asks questions, wanting to understand why his character behaves a certain way in each scene. We would often sit together to discuss scenes before shooting. Since I like to leave some room for spontaneity and last-minute changes, Vijay’s questions pushed us beyond our limits and helped us bring out the best in every scene, because Matka King is a game of details. He worked with great patience and poured his heart into the role, and now, when you see it, he truly looks like a hero in the series.”
“It was a world I had known since childhood”
Manjule also recalled his first reaction when the idea of Matka King was brought to him by producers Ashish Aryan and Ashwini Sidwani. He shared that the setting immediately resonated with him on a personal level.
He said: “When Ashish (Aryan) and Ashwini (Sidwani) brought the idea of Matka King to me, my first reaction was that it had been very popular when I was a kid. Later, when we were with Siddharth (Roy Kapur) sir and planning the story, my instinct was that this was an interesting world I had known since childhood, so I was excited about the idea.”
“Brij Bhatti is an intelligent man, almost like a scientist”
Explaining how he approached writing the character of Brij Bhatti, Manjule said the role was shaped through observation and familiarity with similar personalities in real life.
He stated: “I have seen a lot of people like Brij Bhatti, and when we were in the writing process, as I was trying to understand the character, I realised he is an intelligent man, almost like a scientist. He invented a game, and to create it, you needed daring. And yet, at his core, his strength is his honesty.”
Created and written by Abhay Koranne and created, written and directed by Nagraj Popatrao Manjule, Matka King also stars Kritika Kamra, Sai Tamhankar, Siddharth Jadhav, Bhupendra Jadawat and Gulshan Grover in key roles, along with Bharat Jadhav, Girish Kulkarni, Jamie Lever, Kishor Kadam, Cyrus Sahukar, Arpita Sethia, Sambhaji Tangade, Ishtiyak Khan, Sanjivv Jotangia and Simran Ashwini. The series is set to premiere on April 17 across India and more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Also Read: Siddharth Roy Kapur credits Nagraj Manjule for Matka King’s authentic period detailing
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