Vijay Sethupathi pulls out of Muttiah Muralitharan biopic 800 on cricketer's request, shares statement

Vijay Sethupathi has announced his decision to opt-out of the film titled 800, a biopic on Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan. The actor took to Twitter to share a recent statement by the cricketer and wrote, "Thank you and goodbye."

According to The Times of India, Muralitharan requested Sethupathi to opt out of 800 since he has been receiving criticism for signing the film.

The actor tweeted a statement that he received from Muralitharan that read, "I am releasing this statement since there is a lot of controversy in Tamil Nadu around my biopic 800. I am aware of the flak Vijay Sethuapthi has been receiving for signing my biopic.”

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He added that there are people who are behind Sethupathi who have a wrong understanding of his views and he does not want one of the best actors in Tamil Nadu to go through this.

The cricketer in his statement further said that fearing the consequences that Sethupathi could face for signing 800 in future, he requests him to opt out of the film.

Muralitharan added that he has never given up when he has faced obstacles in his life and he will overcome this obstacle too. The cricketer said that he accepted his biopic because he thought it would inspire youngsters and aspiring cricketers.

"I believe we will overcome this obstacle and take this film to the audience. The makers of the film have told me they will come out with an announcement on the film soon, I would be helping them in all the ways I can,” he said, adding that he would like to thank the press, various media houses, politicians, actors from Kollywood, fans of Vijay Sethupathi fans and Tamil people for showing their support.

A controversy had sparked after Sethupathi agreed to play the lead in the biopic of the Sri Lankan spinner. According to Scroll a number of political parties and Tamil nationalist sympathisers claimed that the film is an attempt to whitewash a figure who is problematic in Sri Lanka.

They were of the opinion that Sethupathi should not glorify Muralitharan, whose politics, they alleged, damaged to the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils.

A few days back the legendary cricketer had issued a statement against people opposing Sethupati’s portrayal of the cricketer in 800. He had spoken about living through the Sri Lankan civil war as a Tamil and admitted that even though he was first hesitant when producers approached him to make a film on his life but later thought that it might be the right opportunity to acknowledge people who were instrumental in his path towards success.

On October 8, Sethupathi had announced the launch of 800. The title of the film is based on the number of Test wickets that the cricketer has taken in his career in sports.

The film is being produced by Movie Train Motion Pictures and Dar Motion Pictures. The film will be directed by MS Sripathy and shooting is scheduled to begin sometime in early 2021.