Vijay Sethupathi to portray Muttiah Muralidharan in biopic?

Biopics of cricketers have had a good market even if they were not runaway hits. MS Dhoni’s life was portrayed in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. So too was Sachin Tendulkar’s career in a biopic. And then there is the under-production Ranveer Singh starrer 83 on the legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev and his team’s triumph in the World Cup.

If sources are to be believed, K’town is gearing up for a biopic on international cricketer Muthaiah Muralidharan. And the star who is going to play the Sri Lankan cricketer on screen is none other than Vijay Sethupathi. Sources add that the movie is titled 800 as the ace spinner is the only bowler to take a record 800 wickets in Test matches in his 18-year-long career.

The filming of 800 may begin in December 2019 and it will be a big-budget film to be shot in India, Sri Lanka, England and other parts of the world.

Many things may go in favour of such a movie. Murali belongs to Sri Lanka and represented his team at a time when the country was going through the ethnic conflict with the militant group  LTTE demanding an independent state of Tamil Eelam in the north and eastern parts of the island nation.  Also, Muttiah has an Indian connection as his wife Madhimalar is from Chennai. He was also a significant player in IPL during the early seasons of the league. Despite a few attempts, we could not reach Vijay Sethupathi.