Varun
Tej’s
committed
performance
somehow
rescues
Matka
from
being
a
pointless
venture
with
stylish
flourishes
and
interesting
ideas,
observes
Arjun
Menon.
Releasing
a
few
weeks
after
Lucky
Bhasker,
Matka
is
another
Telugu
period
drama
about
a
conniving
financial
scam.
It
signals
the
increasing
fascination
of
Telugu
film-makers
with
stories
of
anti-heroes
who
thrive
in
a
financial
system
replete
with
loopholes
that
can
be
weaponised
by
highly
determined
individuals.
But
unlike
Lucky
Bhasker,
this
Varun
Tej
starrer
is
a
not-so-novel
attempt
at
recycling
the
tropes
of
this
sub-genre
with
an
emphasis
on
the
larger-than-life
persona
of
the
hero,
a
direct
offset
of
the
‘Rocky
Bhai’
archetype,
often
engaging
in
fiery
one
lines
and
larger-than-life
dressing
choices.
We
follow
the
rags-to-riches
tale
of
a
clever,
cocksure
young
man,
who
charts
a
way
for
himself
by
hook
or
crook,
often
ready
to
take
on
divisive
decisions.
The
film
kickstarts
by
tracing
back
our
gambler
hero’s
early
days
as
an
immigrant
child,
who
is
forced
to
make
his
way
inside
a
juvenile
home,
where
he
has
no
one
but
himself
to
bet
on
to
survive.
Kishore
Kumar
draws
out
a
flimsy
roadmap
into
our
hero’s
psyche
and
why
he
ends
up
becoming
the
street-smart
crime
figure,
through
this
childhood
episode.
The
film
is
careful
in
not
stepping
over
the
moral
boundaries
of
the
hero,
after
he
is
let
out
of
the
prison
as
a
young
man,
years
later.
There
is
no
dearth
of
movies
on
this
subject
and
it’s
unfair
to
judge
a
film
for
its
reliance
on
cliches
and
conventions
if
they
are
packaged
in
an
interesting
way.
But
Matka
is
not
interested
in
breaking
any
new
ground.
The
makers
are
happy
to
go
through
the
motions
and
deliver
a
stylised,
retro-themed
masala
entertainer
that
does
its
thing,
without
offering
a
fresh
take
on
the
jaded
tropes
that
need
a
little
more
than
a
rehash
sensibility.
Vasu
(Varun
Tej)
finds
it
hard
to
remerge
to
a
fully
functioning
society,
where
his
passion
for
personal
growth
outsizes
everyone
around
him.
The
film
builds
up
a
roaster
of
characters
who
pass
through
and
some
who
tag
along
on
his
journey.
Matka
is
said
to
be
partially
inspired
by
the
real-life
gambling
scam
referred
to
as
‘matka‘
that
made
news
in
the
late
1960s
up
until
the
early
1990s.
Varun
Tej
is
playing
a
fictionalised
version
of
Ratan
Khatri
—
who
is
said
to
have
dominated
the
matka
business
—
and
there
is
no
way
to
know
how
much
the
makers
are
borrowing
from
real
events.
But
his
gradual
ascent
and
romantic
fling
keep
things
moving
and
you
never
get
bored.
Sujatha
(Meenakshi
Chaudary)
brings
some
stability
into
his
life
and
the
romantic
angle
is
worked
out
in
a
mostly
tasteful
manner
sans
any
overtly
crass
scenarios,
a
staple
of
similarly
themed
films.
The
leading
lady
doesn’t
get
to
do
much
but
somehow
the
chemistry
between
the
two
leads
keeps
it
interesting.
We
are
led
into
the
overpopulated
world
of
matka
gambling
that
involves
scheming
and
we
see
the
hero’s
fast
rise
up
the
ranks.
But
there
is
not
much
going
on
by
way
of
dramatic
storytelling
and
we
sit
back
and
watch
bloated
set
pieces
and
action
blocks
unfurl,
with
little
to
no
impact
by
way
of
its
setups
and
payoffs.
G
V
Prakash
Kumar
tries
his
best
to
elevate
the
mood
with
his
score
but
the
overtly
packed
songs
accentuate
the
feeling
of
nothingness.
The
supporting
cast
involves
faces
like
Naveen
Chandra,
Ajay
Ghosh
and
Kishore,
who
balance
out
the
excessive
dependence
on
Varun
Tej,
as
a
single
hinge
of
the
dirty
games
of
one-upmanship
in
the
gambling
business
that
ensues.
Varun
Tej
gets
to
play
the
gambler
at
various
stages
of
his
life
and
we
buy
into
his
physicality
and
styling
in
various
phases,
along
with
his
impeccable
spirit
of
survival.
But
there
is
only
so
much
the
actor
can
do
to
salvage
an
underwritten,
thinly
sketched
out
crime
saga,
where
thrills
are
hard
to
come
by.
He
looks
convincing
as
the
devil-may-care
mastermind,
who
can
wield
the
gun
with
style
and
deliver
some
pulpy
non
sequitur.
The
machinations
of
the
business
and
his
fight
for
supremacy
echo
earlier
films
of
ilk.
The
visual
flair
of
Kishor
Kumar’s
captivating
colours
maintains
a
visual
consistency
in
the
film
that
covers
a
period
of
24
years,
covering
the
1950s
to
the
1980s
aesthetic
with
adequate
panache.
The
hero
suggests
the
thin
line
between
concepts
of
good
and
evil
in
some
places
but
the
film
never
stops
to
ponder
over
the
bigger
questions.
It
is
content
dolling
out
the
expected
pleasures
of
the
genre.
The
lack
of
conviction
in
the
morality
and
deeper
aspects
of
the
hero’s
journey
hamper
this
exercise
and
resist
from
becoming
anything
substantial.
Varun
Tej’s
committed
performance
somehow
rescues
the
film
from
being
a
pointless
venture
with
stylish
flourishes
and
interesting
ideas.
But
the
bland
superficiality
thrives,
and
Matka
becomes
a
forgettable
action
flick
that
will
leave
no
real
impact.
Matka
Review
Rediff
Rating:
