Vijay Sethupathi withdraws from Muttiah Muralitharan biopic after request from cricketer

Even though Muttiah Muralitharan himself tried to explain his case, and argued that he never treated Eelam Tamils with disrespect citing his own Tamil origin, many point out there is footage and news reports suggesting the cricketer’s seemingly supportive stand for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the island-nation’s President who was the war-time defence secretary, and other remarks made towards the end of the civil war.

In Tamil Nadu, film personalities such as Bharathiraja, Ameer, Thamarai and Cheran and even a state minister, Kadambur C Raju, had made statements urging Vijay Sethupathi to withdraw from the project “considering the sentiments of Tamil people.”

On Monday, Muralitharan issued a statement asking Sethupathi to back out from the project. Thanking the cricketer, Sethupathi shared the statement.

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Talking about a section that is “imposing pressure on actor Vijay Sethupathi to withdraw himself from the movie due to the wrong notions surrounding me,” Muralitharan said he doesn’t want an artiste from Tamil Nadu to suffer because of him.

The former international spinner said the movie, planned as an inspiration for future generations, will materialise and that the producers have assured him that further information regarding the project will be announced soon. “I will stand with them,” Muralitharan stated.