Aug 14, 2026 8:00pm IST
Vijay Varma on ‘Matka King 2’ Status: ‘It’s in Writing Stage’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Vijay Varma won the Best Performance award for “Matka King” at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2026. Shortly after walking into a room full of cheers and then quoting Snoop Dogg, he hopped on a chat with Variety India to talk about the big win.
“Matka King,” set in 1960s Bombay (Mumbai’s old name), tells the story of a man who spreads the popularity of matka, an illegal gambling game. Sharing his first thoughts since the win, the actor says, “I feel elated. I feel that I have won [in life].“
Calling himself a “huge Snoop Dogg lover,” he says he referenced the iconic rapper’s 2018 "I want to thank me for believing in me" speech because “I liked what he said and felt it resonated with me.” While Snoop said the iconic line on receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Varma did so while accepting an international film award.
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Varma’s reason? “For ‘Matka King,’ I remember thanking everybody who made it happen. And now, it's time to actually also thank myself for believing in myself and having the conviction to play this part in a series on a slightly nuanced topic. I just wanted to recognize my own efforts here and nothing else. It was just like a pat on my own back.”
Sharing developments on “Matka King 2”, the actor notes, “I haven't sat with the writers or the producers yet. I don't know at what stage the writing is in. Hopefully, this year-end or early next year, I should have a concrete plan in place.”
Choosing not to reveal too much about the upcoming second season and the direction his character Brij Bhatti will take, Vijay Varma maintains, “They have some ideas that they're dabbling with.”
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“Matka King,” produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Nagraj Popatrao Manjule, Gargi Kulkarni, Ashwini Sidwani and Ashish Aryan, under the banners of Roy Kapur Films, Aatpat, and SMR Productions, was released on Prime Video in April and was well received, soon being renewed for a second season.
Starring Varma in the title role, it also included crucial performances from Sai Tamhankar, Bhupendra Jadawat, Kritika Kamra, Gulshan Grover and Siddharth Jadhav.
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