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Vijay Sethupathi opts out of Muralitharan’s biopic ‘800’

Chennai : Tamil movie actor Vijay Sethupathi on Monday said everything is over as regards Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s biopic ‘800’. On Monday Muralitharan in a statement said that he had requested Sethupathi to leave the project since he is being pressured by some groups. Speaking to reporters here, Sethupathi said everything is over and that is why he had tweeted ‘thanks’ and ‘vannakam’ after posting Muralitharan’s statement. Sethupathi was set to play Muralitharan in the biopic ‘800’.

Tamil fringe groups and political parties sympathetic to Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) demanded that Sethupathi excuse himself from the movie citing Muralitharan’s political stand.The opposition is due to Muralitharan’s utterings which are allegedly in favour of the Sri Lanka’s ruling regime. According to Muralitharan, his views were twisted for political reasons.Muralitharan said he does not want Sethupathi’s career to be affected.

While people such as Congress MP Karti P. Chidambaram, actor-turned-politician and founder of All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi R.Sarathkumar and his wife and actor Radhikaa Sarathkumar had voiced their support for Sethupathi, the Tamil movie world was largely silent. Even the South Indian Artists’ Association, popularly known as Nadigar Sangam, the body representing the interests of actors, maintained a studied silence on the issue.

Hindi Website