Surprise yourself again and again: Matka King, Dupahiya, Snakes and Ladders, Matka King and The Rana Connection
In the third part of my report, here you will find detailed information about four more programs that Amazon has prepared, in several languages.
King Matka (Hindi)
In this fictional story set in 1960s Mumbai, an enterprising cotton trader longing for legitimacy and respect starts a new gambling game, called 'Matka', that takes the city by storm and democratizes land previously reserved for the rich and the elite. There was actually something called 'Matka' in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I'm not sure if it disappeared after that or if it still survives.
A man used to pick a card from a 'Matka' (clay pot), and anyone who had bet on that number would get paid by a series of agents across Mumbai. People could place bets as low as 25 paise (in the 1960s) and win many times. Over time, I remember that 'Matka' gave way to sophisticated harvesting methods, and there used to be two selections, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon, called Open and Close respectively. You could bet on both, and if you got both right, you made a small fortune.
The kingpin of this 'trouble' was a man called Ratan, whose life was filmed in a film called Rangeela Ratan, supposedly financed by him. Later there were two official 'Matkas': one was called Worli Matka and the other Kalyan Matka, named after localities in Bombay. Either it was legal or it found some loophole in the laws of the time, but the system flourished unhindered, with lakhs, if not millions, of Bombayites, placing their bets regularly, every day. Some were ruined by long-term losses, others became richer by short-term gains. It would be interesting to see if Roy Kapur's films have made a biographical spectacle or fictionalized the concept.
Nothing needs to be said about writer-director Nagraj Manjule, but his co-writer needs to be mentioned here. Abhay Koranne's first film was the action drama Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018), co-written with Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap. Abhay also conceived and wrote the story concept for the series Rocket Boys (2022), for Roy Kapur Films. He has scripted the documentary Indi(r)a's Emergency (2023) and depicts Matka King as a brave series of historical crimes. Vijay Varma plays the lead role. Do you remember him in Dahaad?
shame (no)
In a town about to celebrate 25 crime-free years, chaos ensues when a coveted motorcycle is stolen! With the silver jubilee trophy, a wedding, and the villagers' pride at stake, what follows is a crazy journey to recover the bike before it's too late.
Dupahiya, which means two-wheeler in Hindi, is directed by Sonam Nair. She directed Masaba and the film Gippi. In this two-wheeler, apart from Sonam, there are producers Salona Bains Joshi and Shubh Shivdasani, creators Chirag Garg, Avinash Dwivedi, Salona Bains Joshi and Shubh Shivdasani, writers: Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg, key cast: Gajraj Rao, Renuka Shahane. , Bhuvan Arora, Sparsh Srivastava, Shivani Raghuvanshi and Yashpal Sharma. At last count, that made 11. Now that's going to a bicycle!
Snakes and Ladders (Tamil)
Four reckless kids, while trying to cover up an accident, find themselves caught in dangerous situations: chased by cops, dumb bullies, and their own bad decisions.
Produced by A Stone Bench, Snakes and Ladders has Karthik Subbaraj as creative producer. It is directed by trio Bharath Muralidharan, Ashok Veerappan and Kamala Alchemis, with Kamala Alchemis and Dhivakar Kamal as the creators. The key cast includes Naveen Chandra, Muthu Kumar, Nandaa, Srinda, Manoj Bharathiraja, Ramachandran, Sreejith Ravi, Samrit Surya, Rageshwar Surya, Kumar Tharun and Sasha Bharen. I can't bet on the Alchemis in Kamala's name. Is the t at the end invisible?
Now, who would you think of when you imagined a new talk show host? Not Karan Johar. I said “new.” Well, whoever you think of, it's not likely to be 39-year-old Rana Dagubatti. Better known as the Survivor, for his kidney, cornea transplants and other diseases. I know I know. He may not be as fluent in English as he would like him to be. So what's wrong with a Telugu talk show? Rana: Telugu. There is a connection. And they call it precisely that.
The Rana Connection (Telugu)
An exciting and curiosity-rousing talk show, hosted by celebrated actor Rana Daggubati and featuring his friends and contemporaries from Indian cinema. The production company is called Spirit Media Pvt Ltd, with Rajeev Ranjan and Prashanth Potluri as producers.
Rana Daggubati is the host… and the guests? You will soon find out.
