- The cricketing legend supported Rajapaksa
- Did not take up the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils
- Producers appeal to take it as a picture on cricket
- Vijay Sethupathi, “Makkal Selvan,” faces harsh trolls of his fans
- “Shame on Vijaysethupathi”# hash tag trends on Twitter
Chennai: Vijay Sethupathi, main lead in famous Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s biopic is on the back foot now after facing severe criticism from his fans across TN.” Muralitharan, who took highest wickets in test cricket history, had supported Rajapaksa and never condemned the atrocities against Tamils in Sri Lanka and, in fact, expressed joy in 2009 for the victory of Sri Lankan army against LTTE. How can we expect our actor to play a biopic of such a person” anguished Sethupathi fans tweeted. It became a hot topic in Tamil film Industry.
Biopic titled ‘800’
The title of the movie was announced keeping in view of the number of wickets taken by Muralitharan in his career which is a world record in Test cricket history. Once the film was announced, Vijay started to reduce weight with the help of a trainee to be perfectly fit for the role.
Suresh Productions under Rana’s banner is producing the film in the direction of M. S. Sripathi, ” of Kanimohzi” fame. Film shoot is planned in countries like Sri Lanka, UK, Australia and India and slated for release in 2021 December. Film is planned in multi languages with an International release along with English subtitles.
Will Vijay drop out?
After seeing the ire of the fans and the anger of the general public, there are rumours circulating that Vijay Sethupathi might quit the project. There is no official statement from Vijay who became popular in TN with the movie” PIZZA”.
“Why should we take a biopic of a Sri Lankan cricketer? If any Indian starts Pakistani player Afridi’s biopic, can he expect support from Indians?” another fan tweeted with aguish.
“Sri Lankan government killed many Tamils and still is treating them as minorities. Why should you act in that movie, you are a sell out”, is a tweet from another fan. Director Seenu Ramaswamy requested Vijay personally to rethink about the decision of acting in the film.
Suresh Production’s Statement
Makers of the biopic issued a statement that the film is totally based on sports and there will be no scenes related to Eelam Tamils’ struggle or the battle in bad light. “Art is beyond boundaries and it has the ability to unite people across the globe. The film will inspire many youngsters to achieve their goals in life and the script strictly involves how a man from Tamil community had gone on to become the highest wicket taker. Please don’t politicise the issue. We promise that there will be no scenes which will hurt the sentiment of Tamil community,” they added.
Brilliant bowler
The Kollywood actor Vijay and the famous spinner Muralitharan had a virtual meeting recently during the IPL telecast and discussed the project. Composer Sam CS and cinematographer R.D. Rajasekhar are also on board. One of the cricket’s most brilliant and divisive characters, Muarlitharan is a legend who is a symbol of Tamil ethnicity and pride. But right now this topic became a burning issue in TN and one has to see how Vijay will respond to this and put an end to the controversy.
