Vijay Varma on working with Nagraj Manjule in ‘Matka King’: ‘He is a man of few words’

Prime Video’s upcoming series, Matka King, feels like a time capsule to another era. Set in the 1960s in a Mumbai that was transitioning quickly to a cosmopolitan centre, the show highlights the period through a focus on gambling and its impact on common people. There is a surge of underdog energy in its frames as the protagonist, Brij Bhatti, starts his own gambling den with his own set of rules and innovations. He is portrayed without panache by Vijay Varma, who finds a sense of regularity in his being. With a touch of ambition in his personality coupled with an outlook of a middle-class hustler, Brij is the Mumbaikar for the ages. Honesty is his virtue, which also becomes his biggest selling point as he draws betted cards in front of the audience.

It was a difficult world for Varma to inhabit. “I didn’t know any of the card tricks. So, I was constantly switching between playing with the cards and smoking a beedi while wearing an outfit that I am not familiar with. It took me some months to process all the information but I was ready when we began shooting finally,” recalls Varma.