Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi was set to play the role of iconic cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan in the upcoming biopic, 800.
However, the actor started facing harsh criticism for portraying the spin legend.
Within 24 hours of the release of the poster on October 13, #ShameOnVijaySethupathi started to trend on Twitter to protest Sethupathi's decision to portray the bowler from Sri Lanka, a country that oppressed Tamils.
Although Muralitharan initially praised the casting of Vijay Sethupathi after calling him ‘one of the greatest’, the cricket legend has now asked the actor to walk out of the biopic, which Vijay acknowledged with a simple ‘Thank you’.
Muralidaran said that he wanted his biopic to inspire a lot of youngsters but not to trigger public outrage and stir up one controversy after another. Therefore, he thought it would be best for Vijay to drop out of the project.
Netizens were happy with the news that Vijay Sethupathi would no longer be playing someone who supported the Sri Lankan government in its ‘genocide against Tamils.’
Amid the backlash, the makers of the upcoming biopic released a statement, saying: “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 biography 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.
