Varun Tej Starrer Matka Inspired From The Life Of Gambler Ratan Khatri?

Varun Tej is currently in the midst of filming for his next project, Matka. The actor recently saw through the release of film Operation Valentine which turned out to be a complete box office dud despite its overarching theme of patriotism. A fresh update has now come forth about Matka.

Is Matka a biopic?

As per a recent Gulte report, Varun Tej's Matka, is inspired from the life of 'Matka King', Ratan Khatri. For the unversed, Ratan Khatri's title of 'Matka King' comes from the stronghold he had over the Matka gambling industry in India, between the 1960s and 1980s. Incidentally, Khatri had himself turned producer with 1976 film Rangila Ratan, notably starring Rishi Kapoor and Parveen Babi. 

Directed by Karuna Kumar, Matka reportedly spans a timeline of 24 years and will feature Varun Tej sport four looks to reflect the same. Set against the backdrop of Vizag, the timeline for the film is between 1958 and 1985. The report adds how while the film will not be an out and out biopic on Khatri, several plot points from the film will be heavily inspired by his life.

Varun Tej's Operation Valentine failed to take off at the box office

Operation Valentine was among Varun Tej's more ambitious projects. The film featured him in the role of an Indian Air Force officer opposite Manushi Chhillar who notably marked her Telugu debut with the project. January Bollywood release Fighter, also based on the same premise, despite its shortcomings, still delivered on the promise of being an aerial action extravaganza - something which Operation Valentine entirely missed out on.

The film was reportedly mounted on a budget of ₹40 crores. As per a Sacnilk report, Operation Valentine's domestic collections came in at ₹8.1 crores with its worldwide collections being ₹9.75 crores - its overseas collections separately, as per the same report, were as less as ₹0.5 crores.