Matka box office: Kanguva overshadows Varun Tej’s retro gangster film in Telugu states

Actor Varun Tej has pinned his hopes on his latest movie, Matka, amid a rough patch in his career, with none of his recent films finding considerable success. Despite experimenting with different genres to connect with audiences, success remains elusive.

Early trends indicate that Matka opened to a poor box office response in the Telugu states. The film saw low pre-release ticket sales, and that sluggish trend continued on opening day, with limited audience turnout. Reports suggest that Matka had slightly over 8 percent occupancy across its Indian shows, with the film potentially struggling to cross Rs 1 crore on its first day—marking one of the lowest openings in Varun’s 10-year career.

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The film’s reception from critics and audiences alike has been lukewarm, with most reviews calling it a predictable story with a tired and overused narrative style. Varun’s hope that his retro look in this period drama would resonate with viewers didn’t quite pan out. The film, written and directed by Karuna Kumar, stars Meenakshi Chaudhary and Nora Fatehi in pivotal roles.

Matka, which follows the journey of a gangster’s rise from humble beginnings, was made on a large scale but has struggled to make an impact. Adding to its challenges, Matka has been overshadowed by Suriya’s latest release, Kanguva. Directed by Siva, Kanguva has seen strong advance bookings and appears to be performing well at the box office.

With Pushpa 2: The Rule slated to release on December 5, Matka has just about two weeks to make any gains it can before facing further competition from Allu Arjun’s much-anticipated release.

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