Amid enjoying a pinnacle with rising stardom from across and beyond the borders, reputed actor Vijay Sethupathi has unprecedently been surfaced with back to back challenges and setbacks in recent times with meeting trouble and sparking controversies. When he was pushed to brace up the piracy, he has now been facing a backlash from the Tamil fans and fraternities. 

When his 'Ka Pae Ranasingam' movie was released on October 2nd on the ZEE Plex OTT platform, it became the first movie in India to get released on the pay-per-view format. However, about two hours after release, the movie was pirated and leaked by the piracy site, which troubled the movie team both on the grounds of entertainment and financial corridors. 

Days after he faced trouble over the dominance of piracy in his movie, he has now levied with new tension as the sequel of confirming that he would be acting in Muthiah Muralidharan biopic. On October 8, it was officially announced that 'Makkal Selvan' has been roped in to reprise the legendary Srilankan bowler. Vijay Sethupathi took to Twitter and put the news confirming that he has been booked to act as the spinner in the biopic. 

Vijay Sethupathi said he was honored to be a part of this landmark project. According to reports, the biopic film has been titled as '800' to mark the number of wickets taken by Muralidharan in the test cricket. Directed by MS Sripathy, the biopic will be covering the struggles faced by the spinner and how he rose to popularity and become one of the legendary cricketers in history. The movie would be jointly produced by Movie Train Motion Pictures and Dar Motion Pictures. 

Honoured to be a part of this landmark project. Update soon #MuthiahMuralidaran @MovieTrainMP #MuralidaranBiopic #MSSripathy #Vivekrangachari @proyuvraaj pic.twitter.com/lUbJwyiDsy

— VijaySethupathi (@VijaySethuOffl) October 8, 2020

The biopic would be honoring the Srilankan spinner as he is the only cricketer to have taken 800 wickets in Tests and he leads 92 wickets ahead of Australian Shane Warne who had taken 708 wickets. Earlier when it was speculated that Vijay Sethupathi won't be acting in the biopic following the demand kept by Tamil outfits. However, through his announcement, it was officially confirmed that he would be acting in the biopic, and ever since he made the announcement, he has been drawing major flak across Tamil Nadu and he has been demanded to drop the film and his decision. 

Though some of the fans of Vijay Sethupathi and Muralitharan had welcomed the announcement and expressed their happiness, some of the people and fraternities have been voicing against Vijay Sethupathi, leaving him to brace up the new tension. The main reason why the actor has been opposed is Muralitharan's episodes of supporting the Sinhala leaders including the Rajapaksas who have been the directors of the genocide against Tamil people living in the northern part of the country during the nation's civil war against the Liberal Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Vijay Sethupathi has been criticized for expressing his honor of playing in the role of Muralitharan, who supports the anti-Tamil leaders in his country. During the interview, the actor said that Muralitharan is an iconic sportsman of Tamil origin and someone who has made his mark across the world and added that he has been looking forward to playing the cricketer's role. However, Vijay Sethupathi has been running into controversy and strong demand from the people who demand that Rajapaksas must be prosecuted for the genocide, which killed lakhs of Tamil people. 

Muralitharan has apparently been one of the supporters of Rajapaksas and during the presidential elections in Sri Lanka, Muralitharan has backed Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the presidency. Previously, by claiming that he didn't face any problems as Tamil, the cricketer has also compared Mahinda Rajapaksa to Nelson Mandela. Earlier this year, the spinner had shown the support for Sinhala leaders during the general elections during which he further sparked criticism. 

After the actor had made the announcement, he has been facing trouble over the social media pages with hundreds of users asking him to drop the project and even Tamil people from Srilanka have been urging the actor to boycott the project. Reputed Tamil director Seenu Ramasamy has also demanded the actor not to act in the movie, which would be against the wishes of Tamil people both in the state and in Sri Lanka. 

Tweeple have been engaging in a tug-of-war in the actor's decision in acting the movie. While some of the fans say they are waiting for the movie, others said they won't appreciate the movie and asked the actor don't play with the emotions of the people of Tamil Nadu. While he has been facing trouble from home, Vijay Sethupathi has got crucial support and wishes from none other than Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was the President of the country under whom the Sri Lankan security forces had executed the genocide against Tamil people. 

On October 8, hours after Vijay Sethupathi made the announcement, Namal Rajapaksa took to Twitter, "Amidst the chaos, the great news of #VijaySethupathi playing the role of legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan in the upcoming biopic ‘800’ is great news. It is only fair that actor of such great calibre play the role of our cricket legend. I wish #MakkalSelvan all the best for his upcoming role & look forward to watching the film." 

I wish #MakkalSelvan all the best for his upcoming role & look forward to watching the film.

— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) October 8, 2020

Namal's tweet has been one of the supportive voices for the actor and it has drawn major attention as a voice from the overseas, close to the person with whom Muralidharan has been accused of. With receiving support from abroad and trouble from the home, Vijay Sethupathi has been in the spotlight. However, he is yet to give his response.