'Matka' Movie Ending Explained & Recap: Is Vasu Based On Real-life Ratan Khetri?

The persisting socioeconomic and political issues in India, which have plagued the country since independence, have ended up creating a breeding ground for conmen, religion peddlers, and embezzlers—basically people who rampantly exploit the existing greed of the poverty-stricken majority of the populace. Director Karuna Kumar’s Telugu period action drama, Matka, based on the real-life exploits of ‘Matka King,’ notorious gambler Ratan Khetri, chronicles the story of such a man who used his wits and guile to cripple the nation’s economy in such a way that the lingering effects of it are prevalent to this day. However, the narrative refuses to adopt a more serious approach to the gravity of the situation and provides a typical action masala movie treatment instead—much like a plethora of similar Indian mass action movies have been made glorifying, at times justifying, the despicable actions of criminal minds by sugarcoating them as common man’s rise to power. As a result, the story appears much more far-fetched compared to the non-glamorous accounts of real-life incidents. Anyway, actor Varun Tej manages to leave quite an impact as the master gambler acting as the lead ringmaster in the circus of the entire expanded con business, and his performance makes even the stretched-out runtime seem well balanced.

Spoilers Ahead

What Was Narayana Murthy’s Role In Vasu’s Life?

The events in the movie take place between the timespan of 1958 and 1982, showing the rise of ‘Matka King’ Vasu. The beginning, set in Madurai in the year 1982, focuses on Sahu, a federal officer working under CBI Agent Mithra, who is investigating Vasu’s countrywide gambling racket. Sahu narrates the life events of Vasu as he knows them to one of his subordinates.

Vasu and his mother, Sharada, came to Visakhapatnam as refugees from Myanmar and survived on rations provided by the government while living in inhospitable conditions. Even people who had nothing had to claw their way out to ensure their survival in a dog-eat-dog scenario, and on one occasion a teenage Vasu found himself squaring off against a ration-snatching refugee who had tried to assault his mother. Vasu ended up killing the refugee, which landed him in the juvenile correctional facility, and he came across the jailer of the facility, a crooked Narayana Murthy, who was quick to recognize Vasu’s temper and stubbornness as necessary qualities for a survivor. Murthy ran a secret gambling ring in the facility around a fighting pit organized by him, where teenage prisoners were forced to fight each other. Vasu agreed to become Murthy’s fighter in exchange for a better life than his fellow inmates, and winning through the years, by the time Vasu reached adulthood, he had helped Murthy to earn a ton. Murthy was a dishonorable cop but still had a sense of gratitude, as the day Vasu got released, he promised his champion fighter that he could ask for his help whenever he felt the need for it in the future. Life in prison had twisted Vasu’s worldview, as winning in life at any cost had become his primary motto, and he was introduced to the world of gambling at a pretty young age. 

How Did Vasu Come Across Nani Babu?

After his release from prison, Vasu returned to his family, who were still living in Visakhapatnam, and took a job as a laborer in the shop of Appal Reddy in the local market. Vasu found the love of his life in Sujatha and learned that she took care of her epilepsy-afflicted sister, Padma, who was forced to take up sex work as a profession due to their impoverished condition and rootless origin. Vasu took them under his care, and things were going smoothly for a while until he crossed paths with the dreaded local gangster, KB Reddy, and his right-hand man, Ammoru. 

Appal drew KB’s ire after refusing to pay up his extortion fees; as a result, KB sent his goon to teach Appal a lesson, who sought help from Vasu to save his skin. Vasu agreed to help Appal in exchange for ownership of half of his business, and beat up KB’s men. KB swiftly answered Vasu’s daring by getting him beaten up by cops under his payroll and almost had him killed by sending Ammoru and his crooks until Appal sought help from the influential businessman, Nani Babu, who commanded a strong presence in the locality. Nani Babu, who had realized Vasu’s presence by his side would be crucial in the upcoming days to curb KB’s influence, took him under his wing. Nani Babu’s mistress, Sophie, took a liking to Vasu since their first meeting, and despite knowing this, Vasu consciously ignored her. 

Within a short period of time, Vasu became Nani Babu’s right-hand man and expanded his own garment business in partnership with Appal, thanks to Babu’s influence. However, on the eve of Vasu’s wedding with Sujatha, Ammoru and a few other of KB’s lackeys attacked Vasu and co., resulting in Nani Babu getting grievously injured. In fear of repercussions, Ammoru surrendered to police, and KB went into hiding, and Vasu began taking care of Nani Babu’s business for three years until Babu finally recovered. This strengthened the bond the duo had with each other, something which will become crucial in the next phase of their respective lives. 

How Did Vasu Become Matka King?

After Nani Babu returned to take over his business from Vasu in 1972, Vasu decided to go big with his garment business, and arranged the capital by taking care of a gang of embezzlers. Noticing Vasu’s obsession with money, Sujatha had become a bit apprehensive, but Vasu was too driven in his obsession to take Sujatha’s concerns seriously. However, upon learning that she was pregnant with their child, Vasu tried to reconnect with his wife—the prospect of becoming a father seemed to have made him act responsibly after all. Despite all that, Vasu took his riskiest decision yet, which altered the course of his life and the lives of people close to him. Instead of spreading his garment business across the country by branding as he had planned initially, he decided to begin ‘Matka’ gambling after seeing laborers in Mumbai engaging in betting games; his memories of his younger days in the juvenile facility flashed in his mind’s eye. Matka gambling was pretty simple when it came to basic rules—two random numbers were chosen by the main bettor, i.e., Vasu, and people were supplied with a series of number sheets. Matching one number guaranteed double return, while matching both the numbers promised eight times the original bet. Vasu knew the majority of the populace was too greedy and gullible to see through his devious scheme of how the chief bettor made zero investment but enjoyed total profit while only a minimal percentage of gambling addicts actually gained anything substantial. Matka—the earthen pot that was used to play the basic version of this gambling game—became the symbol of Vasu’s racket. 

Vasu’s gambling racket expanded at a rapid rate, and from Vizag, it soon reached almost every part of the country. The system was near foolproof; all the local bettors spread across the country enjoyed protection and affluence thanks to Vasu, and their silence was ensured in exchange for the security of their children. The daily Matka numbers were supplied through the rail network and pigeons, and the way two of the most important communication and transport mediums were used by Vasu for his crooked business was intriguing to say the least. Matka gambling became so expansive that a significant percentage of money became untraceable, as the Reserve Bank had no clue regarding the whereabouts of a huge sum, and this affected the nation’s economy in a major way. The then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, faced flak from the opposition and assigned CBI Agent Mithra to investigate the situation, but the damage had already been dealt. Emergency was announced as India suffered financial setbacks among other problems, and as the opposition came to power, Nani Babu was able to fulfill his political aspirations and became an MP after winning in an election. 

Why Did Vasu Kill Sophie?

Vasu had become one of the most influential people in the entire country, as he controlled the flow of money, which was practically incalculable. Vasu made his notoriety as a territorial, aggressive kingpin by eliminating any competition in his trade; through fear and influence, he was able to keep things under his control. However, his relationship with Sujatha was worsening the more he plunged into the dark depths of his greed. She expressed her disdain for Vasu as he became a corrupting influence over his own daughter. Sophie had her eyes on Vasu, and using the opportunity of the conjugal rift, she tried to get into Vasu’s life. However, Vasu was loyal to his wife and rejected Sophie’s advances outright, insulting her ego in the process. 

Nani Babu approached Vasu to seek help in establishing a soft drink brand, and Vasu agreed to assist in buying lands for him in exchange for giving control to the warehouses. Vasu had planned to use the warehouses as hideouts to stash the exorbitant amount of profits gained from matka gambling. However, Vasu’s life took a tragic turn when KB and Ammoru, who had been biding their time through all these years, launched a surprise attack on him and Nani Babu and, simultaneously, on Vasu’s family as well. Vasu and Babu were able to survive, but Vasu’s mother and wife were not so fortunate. This was an eye-opener for Vasu; the blood money he had accumulated by exploiting the masses took a heavy toll on him as he lost the people he loved the most. However, Vasu was able to learn that it was Sophie who had acted as an informer, which is why instead of taking revenge on KB, he decided to kill Sophie after confronting her. 

Did Vasu continue his gambling operations at the end?

Things only went south for Vasu after this point, as Mithra and Sahu were able to reach closer to the truth of the entire scheme after Sahu gathered information from people whose lives were destroyed by gambling addiction. At present, Sahu had learned about the soft drink factory of Nani Babu, acting as a front for Vasu’s gambling money storehouse, and Mithra directly confronted Babu about it. Nani Babu offered Mithra a deal, handing over all the soft drink factories and details about Vasu’s operations in exchange for clearing his name from the entire mess, a deal that Mithra eagerly agreed upon as it could have benefitted her bank balance and career at the same time. Nani Babu knew that, as a politician, he was already too deep in the money-making business by exploiting the masses and could rebuild his fortune with ease anyway. By throwing Vasu under the bus, an opportunistic Nani Babu was trying to save his skin; his decision might have also been influenced by Vasu’s action of killing Sophie, although it isn’t highlighted in the narrative. 

By joining hands with KB, Nani Babu had Vasu’s daughter and his sister-in-law, Padma, kidnapped in order to lure Vasu and have him killed with his family by the henchmen sent by them. However, Vasu turned the tables on them by offering the henchmen ten times the amount promised in exchange for the safe release of his family. After killing the henchmen on his own, Vasu confronted Nani Babu and had him killed and called KB to inform him that he would take his revenge. Sahu intercepts their call, and as Vasu clashes with KB and Ammoru, Sahu and his men arrive in time to round them up. However, Sahu’s men are killed by KB’s gang, and the gangster has both Vasu and Sahu captured. 

A final plot twist, a predictable one at that, comes in the form of Narayana Murthy, who had arrived to help Vasu at his hour of need—keeping his word he gave him all those years ago. Killing Ammoru, KB, and the rest of their gang, Vasu and Murthy go scot-free. A tied-up Sahu promises Vasu of repercussions, mentioning he will not be able to continue his matka gambling after the government takes necessary actions, but Vasu leaves after assuring him that as long as greed exists in people, he will never go out of business. Vasu had no moral qualms, and even though his daughter had questioned him about the corruptive nature of his trade, he knew it was too late to stop and reflect. The only way for him is to go through whatever life throws at him while concocting newer ways to cash in on human follies. 

In Matka’s ending, Vasu leaves the country as he has decided to venture to Dubai with his existing family—his daughter and Padma by his side, leaving his empire in the hands of his brothers and Appal Reddy. Vasu will now focus on combining his gambling business with another addiction of Indians—cricket. The movie ends on a shocking note, as Vasu introduces his newest associate, Dawood Ibrahim, to Appal and co., instructing them to hand the business in Mumbai brunch to him. In real life, it remains unknown whether such a partnership ever happened, as Ratan Khetri might have been a notorious gambler, but helping a terrorist who ravaged the country itself might have been a new low, even for a criminal like him. The movie takes liberties, most probably for shock value, and I am not sure whether the audience will find it amusing by any means. 

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