Cinema

#ShameOnVijaySethupathi: Trouble brews for the actor! Will he drop the biopic or the demand?

By alagu, 14 October, 2020
India, Tamil cinema, Vijay Sethupathi, Kollywood, Muthiah Muralidharan

The more the biopic of Sri Lankan Cricketer Muthiah Muralidharan '800' progresses further, the strong the trouble brews around Vijay Sethupathi as the actor has been surfaced with intense voices and demands from the fans and fraternities to drop the biopic of the cricketer, who turned out to be an ardent supporter of Rajapaksas, who executed genocide against the Tamil people living in the island nation during the final stages of the civil war. 

The biopic film has been titled as '800' to mark the number of wickets taken by Muralidharan in the test cricket. Vijay Sethupathi, who is the actor with rising stardom, had drawn flak last week after he officially announced that he would be reprising the Sri Lankan spinner in the latter's biopic. The actor took to social media and released the poster in which he said he has been honored to be a part of this landmark project. However, he got a lurching reception from the people with the demand to drop the biopic, and the demand grown stronger as the picture processed further. 

Amid such developments, the first look and motion poster of the biopic '800' was released on Tuesday and soon after the poster was released, it had fueled the outrage and demand to drop the biopic had gone high as Tweeple have strongly been reprimanding the actor and ever since the poster was out, Twitter has found the space for hashtag #ShameOnVijaySethpathi as it has been trending since the release to press the actor with the collective demand not to act in the biopic. 

 

The users had claimed that the actor is going against the Tamil people and disrespecting their voice of leaving the biopic. Some users had said that Vijay Sethupathi's acting would strengthen the Sinhala rulers in Sri Lanka and some of the Tweeple asked the actor whether he's with the rulers of the island nation, who unfolded the grave human rights violations under their leadership and direction. Others posted the graphical image of the Sri Lankan army torturing Tamil people during the civil war and asked the actor whether the actor remembers what happened to the innocent Tamil people. 

Twitter has been filled with the hashtag of demanding Vijay Sethupathi to drop the biopic with some of the users posted the video clip of Muthaiah Muralidharan in which he apparently back and support the Rajapaksas. The outrage had grown stronger after the motion poster had shown Vijay Sethupathi with the Sri Lankan cricket jersey with the Sri Lankan flag that was worn by the spinner. Apart from Twitter, several users had expressed their anger against the actor on the various social media handles including Facebook and Instagram. 

Many users had urged the actor to reconsider his decision as if he acts in this movie of supporting Muralidharan, it will be betrayal against many Tamil people who are still waiting for justice for genocide. It has been unprecedented that the growing actor has been surfaced such vigorous demand to drop the movie. As the date of the release is not yet furnished by the movie team, it has been bracing up the shocking developments over drawing the unanticipated reception from the Tamil people. 

Amid the profound call to drop the movie from across and beyond the border, Vijay Sethupathi, who won hearts through his recent movies, is yet to respond whether he would be dropping the biopic or would dropping the demands. Recently, during the interview, Vijay Sethupathi 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. After the retirement, Muthiah Muralidharan has been getting caught up with controversies through his political remarks and stands. Muralitharan has apparently been one of the supporters of Rajapaksas and during the presidential elections in Sri Lanka, Muralitharan has backed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was the Defence Secretary during the civil war, 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. In many interviews, the spinner had expressed his insight that he felt Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the right person to lead the country and urged the Tamil Nadu leaders not to interfere with what's happening in Sri Lanka. 

His allegiance to Rajapaksas had come back to him with the speculated elevation as in 2019, it was strongly speculated that Muralidharan would be appointed as the Governor of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, where more Tamil people live. The spinner had faced strong criticism from the Tamil populace who objected to the decision that he would be appointed as Governor. As such is the development, Vijay Sethupathi has been facing fresh trouble from the fans like never before. 

Amid the trouble from home, Vijay Sethupathi had got support from Namal Rajapaksa, who is the son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Taking to Twitter last week, junior Rajapaksa said, "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".

 

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