Muttiah Muralitharan makes shocking claim on movie star Vijay Sethupathi exiting from '800' sports biopic

There have been plenty of Sports biopics produced in the past in India but most of them are based on Indian cricket stars. However, in the new era of cinemas, several directors have tried their hands to come up with something new in the genre. The most popular ones have been a biopic on the eight-time boxing World Champion MC Mary Kom and the legendary Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar along with the former World Champion skipper, MS Dhoni, to name a few.

Interestingly enough, this time a new biopic is about to hit the cinema theatres but not of an Indian legend. The new sports biopic is named, 800, which is based on the life and the cricketing journey of the legendary Sri Lanka spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan. Besides, the trailer of the movie was recently launched by the two legends of the game- Sachin Tendulkar and Muralitharan's compatriot, Sanath Jayasuriya.

In the same vein, in a startling revelation, the legendary off-spinner said that initially the Southern cinema star, Vijay Sethupathi, was roped in to play the lead role in his biopic. But after the star's family was threatened to ensure the actor does not play this role. Moreover, a lot of political pressure was placed on the actor to reconsider his decision. Furthermore, Muralitharan also iterated that he did not want the actor to ruin his movie career and family peace and hence he seemed fine with the actor later backing out from the biopic.

#MuttiahMuralidaran discusses his biopic, 800. He reveals why #Jawan actor @vijaysethuoffl dropped out of the project and addresses controversies surrounding the film, how big names from #Bollywood expressed interest in the movie, his bond with @sachin_rt, etc.… pic.twitter.com/17LdnQHLqV

— @zoomtv (@ZoomTV) September 24, 2023

“During my time at IPL, my director mentioned that Vijay Sethupathi was staying in the same hotel for a shoot. He offered to arrange a meeting, and although initially unsure, Vijay, being a fan of mine as a cricketer, agreed to meet. He allotted two hours five days later, post 8 p.m., for a narration of the script," Muralitharan told Zoom in an interview.

"After hearing it, he expressed genuine enthusiasm for the film, stating that he wouldn't pass up such a unique opportunity and was eager to be part of the project. Subsequently, we sealed the deal with him, and the production house also came on board," the 51-year-old further stated.

Muralitharan's '800' movie will release during the ODI World Cup 2023

Speaking of the movie '800', the much-awaited sports biopic is scheduled to hit the movie theatres on October 6. During the interview, Muttiah Muralitharan made it amply clear that his biopic is purely a sports movie and has nothing to do with the political side of things. Notably, the incidents related to his life have a backdrop of political disturbances in his nation when the legendary figure was quite young and had just started his cricket career.

The timing of the release is also quite interesting as the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 will commence on October 5, in India. Hence, Muralitharan expects that the fans will shower a lot of love on his biopic along with enjoying the World Cup. The movie will be released in three languages viz- English, Tamil and Sinhala, respectively.