Muttiah Muralitharan
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Biopic controversy
D Govardan, October 17, 2020: The Times of India
Sri Lankan cricketer of Tamil origin Muttiah Muralitharan was a terror on the cricket field as he flummoxed international cricketers with his wrist-spinning off-breaks time and again. No wonder he remains the only international cricketer to have scalped 800 wickets in Tests, with his victims mostly bowled or stumped.
But an attempt by his close family and friends to make him immemorial on celluloid with a biopic titled “800” has not only forced the leading Test wicket taker to run for cover, but also landed an acclaimed and popular Tamil actor like Vijay Sethupathi in trouble. It started on October 8, when the production team, comprising Movie Train Motion Pictures and Dar Motion Pictures, officially released the first-look poster that announced the biopic with Sethupathi to depict Muralitharan on screen. The actor too took to Twitter to make it official.
Not a pure sports biopic, say critics
Earlier, UK-based Tamil singer Teejay, who had featured as one of the two sons of actor Dhanush in award-winning director Vetrimaran’s Tamil hit “Asuran”, had turned down the offer to play the role of young Muralitharan, saying the script of the film also talks about the Sri Lankan civil war.
That was enough for not just the Tamil fringe elements, but also leading film personalities as well as politicians to join the fray to demand that Sethupathi step back from the film. For them, the near-silence of Muralitharan, when the Sri Lankan army set itself upon the Tamils, was a bigger issue than the genocide. They brushed aside a statement from Dar Motion Pictures that it would be a pure sports biopic which won’t hurt the sentiments of Tamils.
“It is difficult to earn a good name with the public. But people have reposed their love in you quite easily. That was because of the roles you donned that reflected the thoughts of people in the last mile. You have a long way to go. Why do you want to give your face for people to remember a betrayer forever? Please somehow try and say no to this project,” director Bharathiraja told Sethupathi. As the war raged on in social media, the actor himself has been maintaining a stoic silence. But he confessed to a friend that he will be in trouble either way — going ahead or withdrawing.
Taking to Twitter, lyricist Vairamuthu urged Sethupathi to let go this opportunity for the sake of Tamils. “Sometimes, fame is achieved by not doing something, rather than doing. Your career is on the growth path. Why mar it,” Vairamuthu said. Lyricist Tamara, in an open letter addressed to Sethupathi, wrote: “Take a bold decision. Let us see what happens. The Tamils around the world will be behind us.”
Politicians, too, were not far behind. “Muralitharan is a betrayer of the Tamil community. Vijay Sethupathi is loved by the masses due to the roles he played with ease on the screen. He too will be considered a betrayer if he goes ahead and dons Muralitharan’s role in the film,” PMK founder S Ramadoss said in a statement.
