Matka King

Matka King is a gripping crime drama set in the 1960s Mumbai. The series builds its world around a modest cotton trader, Brij Bhatti, who, starts an illegal "Matka" betting game, showing how a small, almost harmless gambling idea gradually evolves into a massive underground empire that is controlled by money, politics, and fear.

At its core, the show is less about gambling and more about ambition. It explores how greed reshapes a man's morals as he climbs from poverty to power, and how that power slowly begins to destroy everything around him. Vijay Varma delivers a strong and controlled performance, carrying the emotional weight of a man who is both intelligent and deeply flawed.

• Vijay Varma as Brij Bhatti "Matka King"
• Sai Tamhankar as Barkha Bhatti, Brij's wife
• Bhupendra Jadawat as Laxman "Lachu" Bhatti, Brij's brother
• Kritika Kamra as Gulrukh
• Gulshan Grover as Laljibhai Chaggani
• Siddharth Jadhav as Dagdu Vichare
• Jamie Lever as Sulbha
• Bharat Jadhav as Sub Inspector Eknath Tumbade
• Girish Kulkarni as TP D'Souza
• Kishor Kadam as Minister Prashant Bapat
• Ajay Raju as Police Homeguard
• Ridan Shah as Anmol Bhatti, Brij's son
• Arpita Sethia as Rukmani
• Cyrus Sahukar as Maqsood
• Ishtiyak Khan
• Simran Ashwini as Vasudha, Lalji's daughter
• Samir Trimbakkar as DCP MK Sharma
• Sanjeev Jogtiyani as Editor-in-Chief
• Tanaji Galgunde as Raftaar
• Vineet Kumar Singh as Darab Ahmed Wadkar (special appearance)

Matka King began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 17 April 2026.

Anuj Kumar for The Hindu wrote "‘Matka King’ turns out to be a familiar but gripping crime drama that is worth betting on."

Shubhra Gupta for The Indian Express rated the series 2/5 stars and stated "the matka-addicted mill-workers and their unions whose movement kept Bombay's greedy sharks at bay, remain a scratchy backdrop."

Rahul Desai for The Hollywood Reporter India wrote "Along the way, there are glimpses of the intellect buried within the algorithm."

Deepansh Duggal for The Quint stated "Instead of unfolding organically, the plot feels like it is delivered in bursts, with too much information packed into too little time." Nandini Ramnath for Scroll.in felt that "The eight-episode show suffers from a bit of bloat and threadbare production values." Sana Farzeen of India Today rated the series 3/5 stars and stated "At eight episodes, it feels indulgent."

Tatsam Mukherjee of The Wire expressed "No man-woman pair in the show can do so without falling in love, which I found too escapist and dated." Hardika Gupta from NDTV rated the series 2 out of 5 stars and stated "The result is a story that moves, but rarely surprises; that speaks, but rarely resonates." A reviewer from Amar Ujala rated the series 2.5/5.