As we all know, Vijay Sethupathi had to back out of the biopic, 800, based on legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Tamil Nadu fans were irked over Sethupathi’s decision to play Muttiah Muralitharan on the big screen, an Indian-origin Tamil from Sri Lanka’s Kandy, who had been believed to have supported the Lankan government during the 26-year civil war involving the LTTE.
Now, the makers have found a new face to play the Sri Lankan cricketer’s role in his biopic. Slumdog Millionaire fame actor Madhur Mittal will essay the role of Muralitharan in the upcoming biopic titled, 800. The Sri Lankan spinner has taken 800 test wickets and hence the movie is titled 800. “The untold story of #MuthiahMuralidaran,” makers tweeted as they shared the first look of Madhur Mittal as Muttiah Muralitharan.
Madhur Mittal is popularly known for his role as Salim Malik in Slumdog Millionaire. The 32-year-old actor has been a part of many hit Hindi TV shows including Shaka Laka Boom Boom, Kasauti Zindagi Ki and more.
Madhur Mittal as Muralitharan
For the unversed, Muttiah Muralitharan was born to a Hill Country Tamil Hindu family in Kandy, Sri Lanka and married a Chennai girl. The controversy and opposition for Sethupathi was due to Muralitharan’s uttering which were in favour of the Sri Lankan government.
It was in 2020, the Sri Lankan cricketer released a statement after a lot of people protested against Sethupathi playing his biopic 800. Many celebrities and political parties demanded Vijay Sethupathi decline the opportunity to play the lead role of him.
Muralithara then put out a statement in Tamil, which roughly translated as “I understand that Vijay Sethupathi is facing a lot of pressure from a few people. I do not want a celebrated actor like him facing trouble because of people who misunderstood me. I do not want Vijay Sethupathi to face any problem in future. Hence, I am asking him to opt out of this biopic.”
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