'Shame On Vijay Sethupathi' trends as netizen express anger over Muralitharan biopic

Biopics in India have remained in trends for quite some time now. And if the bipoic is on a cricketer, the topic surely adds weight.

In the past years, we have seen biopics on MS Dhoni and Mohammad Azharuddin, both, turned out to be massive hits. Now, South Indian makers have turned to neigbouring countries for the next cricketing venture. A biopic on Muttiah Muralitharan, the highest wicket-taker in international cricket, has been in progress.

On Tuesday, the makers unveiled official motion poster of the film which showed Vijay Sethupathi stepping into the shoes of former cricketer. The film titled 800 will be set against the backdrop of the civil war that thrashed Sri Lanka for over two decades.

The motion poster featured the journey of Muralitharan acknowedging his passion for cricket and training hard to achieve his goal.

While the motion poster looked convincing, fans are criticizing Vijay Sethupathi for supporting a film on Sri Lankan cricketer.

The reason behind the displeasure is Muralitharan's controversial statements over the years. It is also said that the spin legend had also lent his support to ruling Rajpaksha family during the long civil war between Sri Lanka government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He had also received flak back in 2009 when he had denied genocide of Tamils during the clash.

Now, netizens have taken to Twitter to oppose the film. They have expressed strong anger and disapproval over the film.

A user wrote, "If Any Hindi actors plays the role of Pakistan player with pakistani flags all around the film. Didn't hurt your sentiments fellow Indians. Please understand the feelings of Tamils"

"I stand with the sentiments of Tamil Diaspora, concerning this movie, Murali 800. I never will watch,share or encourage anyone to watch this movie in my circle. I completely boycott this film and will do so."

Check out some more tweets:

800 was announced in July this year. The makers originally wanted to release the film by the end of 2020, but their plans were halted by the covid-19 pandemic.

The film will be made in Tamil and will be released in several languages across the world.