Vijay Sethupathi opts out of Muthiah Muralidaran biopic 800

Actor Vijay Sethupathi on Monday acknowledged Sri Lankan spin legend Muthiah Muralidaran’s request to opt-out of the upcoming biopic 800 after a section of people protested against the film. Muralidaran made his request via a statement which Vijay acknowledged with a ‘Thank You’.

In his latest statement, Muralidaran said he hoped his biopic will only inspire a lot of youngsters but never did he expect it stir up a controversy. Therefore, Murali requested Vijay Sethupathi to opt-out of the project as he sees his involvement in the project as a huge hurdle. 

Murali hoped the makers will continue making the biopic and not drop the idea. 

நன்றி.. வணக்கம் 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/PMCPBDEgAC

— VijaySethupathi (@VijaySethuOffl) October 19, 2020

Last week, the hashtag Shame on Vijay Sethupathi was trending on Twitter after the star agreed to star in the biopic on Muthiah Muralidaran, who hails from Sri Lanka, a country that oppressed Tamils. 

Several people objected to the fact that Vijay Sethupathi has agreed to play someone who supported the Sri Lankan government in its civil war against Tamils. 

Following the stiff opposition, the makers released a statement in which they clarified the film will be a sports biography and won’t make any political statement. 

“It came to our notice that our film 800, the biopic of Muthiah Muralidharan featuring Vijay Sethupathi in the lead, is being politicized in many ways. However, we want to clarify that 800 is a purely a sports biographical film about the legendary cricketer Muthiah Muralidharan. The film is a journey about a man who hails from the Tamil migrant community, going on to become the highest wicket-taker of all time.”

“The film does not make any political statement favouring any community. The film is intended to be an inspiration for the young generation to achieve their dreams irrespective of the difficulties they come across in their journey. We as the Producers assure that this film will not showcase any scenes that would belittle the struggles of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka or hurt their sentiments in any way,” they added.