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Vijay Varma, Kritika Kamra, Sai Tamhankar, Gulshan Grover, Siddharth Jadhav, Bhupendra Jadawat, Jamie Lever, Girish Kulkarni, Simran Ashwini, director Nagraj Manjule, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, writer Abhay Pannu and Nikhil Madhok, Head of Indian Originals at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, attended the trailer launch of their web series, Matka King, in Mumbai. Gulshan Grover stole the show with his arresting presence and mass-appealing quotes.
Matka King trailer launch: Gulshan Grover reveals Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan were intrigued by the show’s title; opens up on his failed ‘Al Pacino’ moment: “Maine poori unit ke saamne kapde change kiye”
He said, “I have always maintained that ‘Sunta main kisi ki nahin, manta main kisi ki nahin’. But for the first time, I met a fascinating director. Throughout the shoot of the show, I just listened to him. When you watch Matka King, you’ll realize how this director has created a beautiful web series with the amazing participation of Amazon Prime Video, the writers and the producers.”
He continued, “I don’t know if I can share this. One day, I felt ‘Yeh director mujhe same kapde kyun pehna raha hai?’. That day, we were shooting a scene of me in a government office. I had this logic that I should get dressed in the best way. I convinced the costume person to give me a different set of clothes. I wore those clothes. I looked like Al Pacino!”
He further said, “Nagraj ji looked at me and asked, ‘Yeh kapde pehnna chahte ho aap?’. I reasoned, ‘Yes, I am visiting a government office. I am a big man. I am the asli Matka King’. I could sense that something didn’t go right with him. He categorically told me, ‘Mera mann tha ki aap wohi kapde pehene’ (the one he wore before). I swear to God, I didn’t leave the set. Maine poori unit ke saamne kapde change kiye. I wore the old clothes. This is the respect I have for his creativity.”
At a later stage in the event, Gulshan Grover revealed, “There are various elements that would entertain you, get you thinking and it's set in a very interesting world. Day before yesterday, I had dinner with Shatrughan Sinha ji, Rakesh Roshan ji, Shashi Ranjan, Anu Ranjan etc. Often, when you meet an actor, he’s asked, ‘What are you working on nowadays?’. I told him, ‘On April 17, Matka King will release on Amazon Prime’. Everyone got intrigued by the show’s title. The next question was, ‘Who is the director?’. I replied, ‘Nagraj Manjule’. I mistakenly mentioned his film’s name as Shararat. Anu Ranjan immediately corrected me and said that it’s called Sairat (2016). This shows how everyone knows about him so well.”
He also stated, “Then, when I told them that Siddharth is the producer, they remarked, ‘He always makes interesting content’. This is the conversation we had based on the title of the show. In this very hall, Akshay Kumar and I were seated a few days before for an award show. He’s my bhai and my friend. He asked me, ‘Kya naya?’. I told him, ‘Amazon ki series aa rahi hai, Matka King’. He was immediately curious and it led to a conversation about the show. I had a similar conversation with Shah Rukh, Varun Dhawan and various others. The title immediately takes you to a very fascinating world.”
Matka King releases on Amazon Prime Video on April 17.
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