Sai Tamhankar is drawn to women characters with fire, voice and the ability to own their space. Barkha, from Prime Video’s ‘Matka King’, is exactly that. Fiercely independent, deeply self-aware and unapologetically her own person, Barkha captured Tamhankar’s admiration from the very first read. For an actor who gravitates toward roles with real depth, this one hit differently. Here, she opens up about the woman who won her over.
Reflecting on what makes her character Barkha special, Sai Tamhankar shared, “She’s a fiery woman. Generally, when you play someone’s wife, the impression is, ‘Oh, it’s just the wife’s character’. But this woman has her own world and her own voice, and she exercises that voice, which really impressed me. She’s not burdened by her husband’s popularity, glamour or money. She has her own thought process and her own world and she keeps her individuality intact, which is such an amazing thing. I love women with spine and my character Barkha is someone with a spine.”
Sai also revealed what drew her to become a fan of her own character, “Initially, she’s really attracted to the glam, the popularity he’s (Brij Bhatti) gaining and the money that’s coming in. But then slowly, after seeing all this noise, she somehow ends up finding her own path. And that’s what Barkha's journey is, it starts outwards and ends up inwards. It’s very interesting to watch that. The most important thing for me was how she develops as a person through this journey and her development is quite interesting. I’m a fan of Barkha.”
Created and written by Abhay Koranne and created, written and directed by Nagraj Popatrao Manjule, the series features Vijay Varma, Kritika Kamra, Sai Tamhankar, Siddharth Jadhav, Bhupendra Jadawat and Gulshan Grover in lead roles. The cast also boasts Bharat Jadhav, Girish Kulkarni, Jamie Lever, Kishor Kadam, Cyrus Sahukar, Arpita Sethia, Sambhaji Tangade, Ishtiyak Khan, Sanjivv Jotangia and Simran Ashwini in key roles.
‘Matka King’ is set to premiere exclusively on ‘Prime Video’ on April 17.