Matka Movie Review
Telugu360 Rating: 2/5
Mega Prince Varun Tej has always chosen interesting and unique scripts. But none of his recent films ended up as money spinners. There are a lot of reasons for the debacles. He pinned high hopes on Matka, a gambling technique. Indian cinema hasn’t seen any film with that backdrop. Varun Tej was presented in three different shades in the film. Palasa fame Karuna Kumar is the director and Meenakshi Chaudhary played the female lead. Matka released today and here is the review of the film.
Story:
Matka is the story of Vasu (Varun Tej) and the film discusses about the young age of Vasu, his teenage struggles and his achievements in life. The film is like the life story of Vasu. He gets arrested in a murder case during his younger days and he turns more brutal by the time he is out of jail. He lands in Vizag and he works as a daily wage worker in Poorna Market. He saves his owner (Ajay Ghosh) and lands as his partner. The rest of Matka is all about his emergence as Matka King and all about his friends, rivals and how he ended up as a major force.
Analysis:
Matka is a small part of the story and the makers should have found a better title for the film. The audience will surely predict it as a film that revolves around gambling. The film also sounds like a documentary of Vasu. The story starts when Vasu is quite young and how he turns into a murderer. The episodes of Vasu’s jail term are narrated in an interesting manner. Some of the heroic episodes will be loved by the masses. Soon, Vasu returns back from jail and lands in Poorna market and he introduces the Matka game before the interval. There is also a love story of Vasu in the first half but it fails to make an impact. The narration throughout the first half is different and the first half of Matka is passable. Varun Tej shines with his performance and different vintage looks.
The Matka episode in the train is well narrated by the director. The episode also narrates completely about the gamble to educate the audience. The second half of Matka fails to live up to the expectations because of the flat narration. There are no highs in the second half and the narration is very slow. Some of the episodes will test the patience of the audience. The second half also misses the needed emotion and Varun Tej’s performance is the only saviour of the second half. The film also misses a strong antagonist. The entire Matka game is shown in a song. The game has a strong impact on the Indian Financial system and the Prime Minister chairs a meeting. But these episodes are not presented in an effective manner.
All the underdog stories get attached to the audience and they own the lead actor and his journey. But this did not happen in Matka. The journey of Vasu from zero to hero is not impactful and powerful. The narration is quite regular and the director added the backdrop of Matka game. Sometimes, the film sounds like a commercial film and for the rest of the time, it sounds like the biopic of Vasu and a documentary. The biggest drawback of Matka is the slow paced narration and the poor second half.
Performance:
Varun Tej has given his best for the film. He exhibited multiple shades and presented his variations. He has done justice to the role of Vasu. He even took enough care of his dubbing. He carried the film on his shoulders but this could not save Matka. Meenakshi Chaudhary gets a deglam role and she fails to impress. Saloni will be seen in a shot. Nora Fatehi wasn’t used to the best and she has a glamorous role assigned. All the antagonist roles are not designed well.
All the technicians have delivered their best for Matka. The costumes and art departments worked hard to bring the vintage look for Matka. All the songs failed to impress the audience. The folk song is decent but it is wrongly placed. Karuna Kumar is a good writer and the dialogues in the film are decent. But his narration failed to live up to the expectations. He picked up a regular format film and added the backdrop of Matka. Varun Tej has given his best for this film and his fans can give this a watch.
