Muthiah Muralidaran says ‘800’ is a sincere, honest biopic

A biopic on Sri Lanka’s legendary spinner Muthaiah Muralidaran is up for theatrical release on October 6. It will be released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi by Sridevi Movies’ Sivalenka Krishna Prasad.

This is not the first cricket-based biopic to be made in India. ‘MS Dhoni: An Untold Story’ and the more recent ’83’ have been made by Bollywood. ‘800’ is different from the biopics made so far because it tells a complex story without resorting to cinematic narratives. “The film is just 20% cricket. The rest 80% is about the unknown aspects of my life,” he says.

The focus is not exclusively on Muralidaran’s bowling greatness. “The film also explores the situations encountered by my family and the circumstances in which Sri Lanka found itself. My childhood, the selection process at the cricket board, the factors that contributed to them choosing me, everything has been shown,” says Muralidaran.

Directed by MS Sripathy, the film has Mahima Nambiar playing the cricketer’s wife. Incidentally, she has a strong Indian connection and her father was a Tamil film producer.

Venkat Prabhu of Kollywood evinced interest in converting Muralidaran’s life story onto celluloid for the young generation to derive inspiration from his life full of spirit and triumph. As destiny would have it, Vivek Rangachari made the movie.