Why Sethupathi bowed out of Mural i’ s biopic
Decision to quit film following outrage
South Indian superstar Vijay Sethupathi announced his decision on Monday to step away from the cricketing biopic ‘ 800’, after his casting sparked massive online outrage and calls for his boycott.
In the ambitious multilingual biopic, the Tamil actor Sethupathi was set to bring to life the trials and triumphs of legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who holds the distinction of being the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets.
But a Tamil star paying homage to a Sri Lankan was met with widespread disapproval, especially among pro- Tamil groups who branded Sethupathi as a ‘ betrayer of Tamils’.
Calls for the actor’s boycott were spurred by the belief that Muralitharan allegedly supported the killing of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians during an armed conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, a charge that the cricketer has constantly denied. The decision to expunge Sethupathi’s name from the project was taken after Muralitharan’s plea urging his actor friend not to court trouble or jeopardise his career over it.
“Sensing that the fine actor’s future films too could land in trouble, I am requesting Vijay Sethupathi to withdraw himself from this film,” Muralitharan said in a statement. In response, Sethupathi responded with a succinct tweet: “Nandri Vanakkam [ thank you, farewell]”.
But even after the announcement the outrage hasn’t simmered down. Sethupathi and his family have been receiving threats of bodily harm, and his minor daughter was threatened with rape.