Ace lyricist Thamarai is the latest to join the list of personalities asking Vijay Sethupathi to opt out of the Muttiah Muralidharan’s biopic. She has suggested that instead, he act in a biopic of slain LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.
In a letter addressed to VSP, she said, “When Muralidharan started playing for the Sri Lankan team, many criticised him. But Thalaivar Prabhakaran kindly said ‘Let’s not hinder his game, we should consider him as one of their boys playing the game.’ Had he uttered one word against Muralidharan, his sports career would’ve finished there.”
“If Muralidharan is just a cricket player, no one is going to question VSP doing the biopic. It’s okay even if he calls himself a citizen of Sri Lanka. But he also became a Sinhalese politician and a speaker on behalf of Rajapaksa who was killing Tamils,” Thamarai said. “When our women were searching for their lost sons after the war, he called it a drama. How can a professional actor like you fail to understand that he is playing a role in a drama staged by the Sri Lankan government to hide the genocide?” she asked.
Referring to Prabhakaran, Thamarai said, “We all know what Ettappan did; now his name has become synonymous with a traitor. You shouldn’t become a traitor.”
According to the lyricist, VSP’s “Facial features match better with another person.” She exhorted him to “Take that role and act and history will celebrate you.”V
