Mumbai, April 7 Filmmaker Nagraj Manjule, who is making his OTT debut with the upcoming show "Matka King", said he was nervous as he was exploring the medium for the first time.
"I'm exploring this medium for the first time, I'm learning it. I wanted to try it (OTT). I don't know whether I got it right or not. I like making films and I'll continue to do so," Manjule said, adding that the story of the series first came to him six years ago.
Created and written by Abhay Koranne and created and directed by Manjule, the show traces the fictional journey of a sharp-minded cotton trader (Vijay Varma), who creates a new gambling system, called Matka.
Manjule, known for movies like "Fandry", "Sairat" and "Jhund", revealed that the world of ‘Matka’ isn’t new to him.
“I’ve seen the world of Matka in my childhood, in fact, I even played it too (gambled), but I wasn’t aware of the world from an insider’s point of view," he said.
“When I met Ashish (Aryan, producer), heard the story and met a lot of people, I found this world interesting. I thought I should try and narrate this story as a storyteller, which is different from my past work,” the director said at the trailer launch of the show.
Manjule said the story is not based on any real life personality.
Actors Kritika Kamra, Gulshan Grover, Sai Tamhankar, Siddharth Jadhav, Girish Kulkarni, and Jamie Lever among others round out the cast of “Matka King”, which is set to debut on April 17 on Prime Video.
Grover said he has been selective about taking up roles on streaming platforms but the story and the team behind “Matka King” were the primary draw for him.
“Since the time OTT came in India, I’ve worked on just two shows, I did one show with Vishal Bhardwaj (‘Charlie Chopra & The Mystery of Solang Valley’) and another is this... hen I heard the role and premise of ‘Matka King’, heard about the director and producer, Siddharth Roy Kapur, I found it interesting,” the 70-year-old actor said.
oth Tamhankar and Kamra said they were thrilled to be working with Manjule.
Language shouldn’t define your existence, an actor is an actor, and one shouldn’t box actors (based on geography), and rather one must recognise their work. I’m thankful to Nagraj sir for working with me, Siddharth Jadhav, and Girish Kulkarni (Marathi actors),” said Tamhankar, a recognised name in Marathi cinema.
Kamra said it was fun playing a well-rounded character.
“My character has all those things that make us powerful, like money and privilege, but she feels powerless... I’m not at all like this character and it was interesting to step into the character,” she said.
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.