We had earlier reported that after drawing flak, actor Vijay Sethupathi had withdrawn from the upcoming biopic of Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, titled 800. However in a recent development, the makers on Monday, took to social media to share the first look of the film, with actor Madhur Mittal starring as the cricketer. The actor is best known to have played the role of Salim in Slumdog Millionaire.
800 is written and directed by MS Sripathy and will release in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. The film’s title draws its inspiration after the record number of wickets Murali took in Test cricket. The announcement was made on the occasion of cricketer’s birthday.
The first look poster shows Madhur sporting short hair and French beard, with the reflection of wickets with bails out on his face. 800 will document the sports journey of Murali amidst a Civil War to become one of the most successful bowlers ever.
Speaking to Cinema Express, Sripathy says about 800, “Cricket will serve as a background and the story will more about the person himself. Throughout his life, he has been someone struggling to prove who he is. Even in the games, he had to prove that his actions are genuine. He was called out thrice in Australia for chucking, just because he had different kind of actions. In his personal life, being a minority Tamil in a Sinhala majority country, where there was civil war, his identity was always a struggle where he belonged to because his ancestors came from India. The theme of the film is the struggle he always had with identity.”
The director collaborated with Shehan Karunatilaka, who won the Booker Prize and has written books on cricket. “I wanted someone from Sri Lanka to collaborate, in order to know about their culture and nation.”
It is to be noted that the film was initially announced with Vijay Sethupathi playing the lead role. But later, he stepped down after he was called out for playing the cricketer on the grounds of his political statements. “We had to find a person of that stature, at the same time convince to look like Murali. We had conducted auditions when we happened to see Mathur’s tape. He resembled very much like him and had the right body language. After a screen test, we found him more suitable.” Sripathy also revealed that in 800, the lead is shown at different ages, from 20s to late 30s, including four looks.
Others part of the cast include Mahima Nambiyar playing his wife, Narain, Nasser, Riythvika, Yog Japyee, and others. Apart from this, 800 will have its climax portions feature a match between Sri Lanka and India. With this, some characters are expected to feature known cricketers of the time. “Kapil Dev, Malinga, Shane Warne’s characters will have interesting cameos in the film.
The film went on floors in April 2022 and was shot in various locations, including Sri Lanka, England, Australia, Cochin and Chennai. The makers are looking to have a nation-wide as well as international release on the same day and are looking a suitable window. 800 is currently in post-production stages.
800 is backed by Movie Train Motion Pictures and Vivek Rangachari. The technical crew consists of RD Rajasekar as the cinematographer and Ghibran composing the music. Praveen KL is handling the edits.
“I did not want to make it as a propaganda film. He wanted to see the story of his life captured. There are many moments captured that he might not remember himself. I got to know more people who knew him and captured it in a more comprehensive way. We also wanted other people’s perspective and how they saw Murali. It is very inspirational film and is not against anyone," the director signs off.