Exclusive: Vijay Sethupathi confirms playing Muttiah Muralitharan in biopic

Vijay Sethupathi will be playing veteran bowler, Srilankan off-spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan in an upcoming biopic, to be produced by Dar Motion Pictures. Murali, who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever, holds the world record for the most wickets in both test and one-day cricket.

The film will be directed by MS Sripathi (who had previously directed a film titled Kanimozhi), and will be made in Tamil and released in several languages across the world.

Vijay, in a statement, said that he feels proud to be associated with the Muttiah Muralitharan biopic, as Murali, an iconic sportsman of Tamil origin, is someone who's made his mark across the world. "Portraying the role of Murali is going to be a challenge for me & I'm looking forward to it. I'm delighted that Murali himself will be closely involved with the project & guiding me on the cricketing aspects. I am thankful to both Murali & the producers for the faith bestowed on me," he said.

Muralitharan, on his part, said that he felt honoured that an accomplished actor such as  Vijay Sethupathi will be playing him in his biopic. "I am glad to be collaborating with Dar Motion Pictures on the film. We are looking at a late 2020 release date. I have been actively collaborating with the creative team for the past several months and I will continue to support this project through its duration," Murali said.

A spokesperson from Dar Motion Pictures says that their production house will be collaborating with a leading South Indian studio on this film. An official announcement regarding the collaboration and the other details regarding the cast and the crew is expected soon.

A source close to the film's unit says that the film might be titled 800, as Murali retired from Test cricket in 2010, registering his 800th and final wicket in 2010 from his final ball in his last Test match. The source also suggests that the film, which will go on floors in December, will be a mega-budget project, planned to be shot across India, England, Sri Lanka, and a few other countries.

It may be noted that several cricket-based films have been made in recent times, including the biopics of Dhoni and Sachin. The upcoming Hindi film, 83, starring Ranvir Singh as Kapil Dev, and Jiiva as Krishnamachari Srikanth, is a recount of the historic world cup win by the India national cricket team in 1983.