Matka is a ‘one-of-a-kind’ story, directed by Karuna Kumar. It stars Varun Tej, Meenakshi Choudhary, Kishore, Naveen Chandra, Satyam Rajesh, Saloni Aswan, Ajay Ghosh and Ravi Shankar. I don’t think many people have watched it, so let me begin with how the story starts.
It starts in 1982 with a cop, Naveen Chandra, who recounts the story of a gangster. Then it goes back to 1958, where a young boy arrives on the shores of Visakhapatnam with his mother and many other refugees. The cop then narrates how the boy is different, as he, alone, has changed the landscape of gambling in India. The cop seems to be hyping the boy in the story.
The film is for a completely different audience as it is every bit a homage to De Palma’s 1983, Scarface. It has the narrative beats of Olive Stone’s script, which brings the flashiness of the vintage era and a central character. Despite all this, Matka misses out on one thing, that is, having its own personality. For example, we see Vasu as a young boy who loves a good fight and who wants to make something of himself, showing the potential of leading a national-level illegal operation, but the story doesn’t have any such operation in particular.
Vasu doesn’t mind being a bit immortal for getting to where he wants to be, but the film wants him to be a bleeding heart of some sort. Like he cares for sex workers, which takes him to the red-light area of the city where he meets his future wife. I feel Karuna Kumar has made Vasu an Indian hero whose identity is never fully realized.
The first half of the movie simply tells us what happened without any action. There is a retro nightclub where we see a famous dancer, business rivals, gangsters, a mother at risk and a child to be saved, but none of these matter at a point.
Matka is said to be loosely based on the real-life Matka King Ratan Khatri but with many creative liberties.
About the Author
