Indian star on sticky wicket over Sri Lanka legend’s biopic

Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan hero​

Vijay Sethupathi (right) at a film premiere in 2019 with Kichcha Sudeep (left) and Ravi Kishan (centre)

An Indian film star is at the centre of a political storm after agreeing to play the lead in a biopic of Sri Lanka's legendary cricket spinner and national hero Muttiah Muralitharan.

Vijay Sethupathi is under pressure in his southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu not to accept the role in "800" -- named after the world record number of Test wickets Muralitharan took, in addition to 534 one-day-international scalps.

The Indian producer of "800," DAR Motion Pictures, has said the movie is a sports biography with no political intention. Sethupathi said in a tweet this month that he was "honoured" to be playing Muralitharan in the film

Tamil politicians in India accuse Muralitharan, who retired from Test cricket in 2010, of betraying fellow Tamils in his country during a civil war that ended in 2009. India's small MDMK party, which opposes the Sinhalese-led government in Sri Lanka, demanded that Sethupathi not take the role, saying Muralitharan sided with the Prime Minister, who as President defeated the separatist Tamil Tiger insurgency.
The enmity dates back to 2013, when Muralitharan told then British prime minister David Cameron that he may have been "misled" by Tamil women who complained to him about disappearances during the war. In a statement sent from the United Arab Emirates, where he is working as bowling coach with Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad, Muralitharan said his remarks about Sri Lanka's ethnic war had been "misunderstood".
"I know the pain of war and the loss it causes. I have never supported the killings of innocent people and will never support that," Muralitharan said. 

"I am perceived wrongly just because I was part of the Sri Lankan cricket team. If I had (been) born in India, I would have tried to be part of the Indian cricket team. Is it my mistake that I was born a Sri Lankan Tamil?"
The Indian producer of "800," DAR Motion Pictures, has said the movie is a sports biography with no political intention. Sethupathi said in a tweet this month that he was "honoured" to be playing Muralitharan in the film, work on which is due to begin early next year.

Daily Mail