In contrast, Jaffna Tamils or Eelam Tamils consider themselves the original inhabitants of the north and east of Sri Lanka and are seen as the descendants of the old Jaffna kingdom. Tamil nationalists in Tamil Nadu see him as a collaborator because of his silence during the end stages of the bloody civil war in 2009 and because of his later support to the Rajapaksas. But he said that he was confident the hurdles would be overcome. Lyricist Thamarai equated the legendary bowler to a ball of âspit in historyâ and said that Sethupathi should spit the project out rather than letting it fall on him. As someone who has constantly spent his life in a conflict-zone, the end of the war in 2009, was a welcome change. As Andrew Fidel Fernando points out in his August piece in The Cricket Monthly, Muralitharan belonged to one of the few prosperous families in the community. நனà¯à®±à®¿.. வணà®à¯à®à®®à¯ ðð» pic.twitter.com/PMCPBDEgAC. After the controversy over the biopic, Muralitharan put out an emotional statement saying he never justified the killing of innocent Tamils during the civil war. Political parties sympathetic to the LTTE such as the MDMK, the Nam Tamilar Katchi and others had asked Sethupathi … The 800 number in the film title is a reference to the number of Test wickets that Muralitharan took in his career, which lasted from 1992 to 2010. Watch: US Senator Bernie Sanders responds to memes on his Inauguration Day attire, India are capable of producing the best five teams in world cricket, says Greg Chappell, Fashionable dog laments outfits it could not wear in 2020, Watch: Emotional forest ranger mourns death of elephant in Tamil Nadu, have through the years been accused of not considering estate Tamils as equals, the estate Tamils were stripped of their citizenship, his family was attacked by anti-Tamil mobs. She also said Sethupathi bore a greater resemblance to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Prabhakaran than to the cricketer. The controversy began to bubble on October 8, when Vijay Sethupathi, took to Twitter to announce the launch of 800, a biopic on Muralitharan. This sparked interest in the project, leading to the starâs name trend on social media. Veteran actor Radikaa Sarathkumar slammed the hypocrisy of those going after Sethupathi and asked why no one was questioning Sun Network owner Kalanithi Maran, the grand nephew of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, whose Indian Premier League team Sunrisers Hyderabad has appointed Muralitharan as a mentor. Ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils, especially those of the upper-caste Vellalar communities, have through the years been accused of not considering estate Tamils as equals, given that estate Tamils were predominantly drawn from the lower castes in India. His world record for taking the highest number of wickets has yet to be surpassed. In December, Muralitharan hailed Gotabaya Rajapaksa as an efficient administrator and chided Tamil Nadu politicians for interfering in the affairs of the Sri Lankan Tamils. I didn't see any Tamils in SL against making of this film, it was a bunch of idiots in Tamil Nadu. There has still not been a proper investigation into the alleged war crimes committed by the Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is now Sri Lankan prime minister, and brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is the countryâs president. The first look of the movie astonished many on social media given the transformation of Sethupathi on screen. In 2009, Mahinda Rajapaksa was the president and Gotabaya, his brother, was the defence minister. #muthaiyamuralitharan biopic &asking @VijaySethuOffl not to actð¡do these people hav no work? The Politics of Free Speech: Muralitharan and the Sri Lankan State. Good or bad, you be the judge, (Some or all of the content shared in this message is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process. Honoured to be a part of this landmark project. My parents considered themselves as second-class citizens and it was only natural that I too followed suit. The statement was shared by Sethupathi on his Twitter page. Tamil film star Vijay Sethupathi’s decision to opt out of a biopic on legendary Sri Lankan Tamil cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is another tragedy to befall Tamil Nadu’s love-hate relations with the island nation, according to M R Narayan Swamy, a historian of the LTTE. The movie is titled 800 — the number of wickets taken by Muralitharan … Cricketer #Muralitharan issues a statement on the ongoing controversy over #800TheMovie #LankanTamilIssue #VijaySethupathi pic.twitter.com/XvE1j3ogce. A huge controversy erupted in Tamil Nadu over actor Sethupathi's decision to play the lead role in Sri Lankan spinner of Tamil origin Muttiah Muralitharan's biopic. More pressure on #VijaySethupathi pic.twitter.com/FoRPxikNVL. England pacer James Anderson on Saturday became the second fast bowler after the great Richard Hadlee to take 30 fifers in Test cricket. The movie is being produced by Movie Train Motion Pictures and Dar Motion Pictures. While there were differences between the Eelam Tamils and the estate Tamils, both faced the brunt of Sinhala-Budhhist chauvinism. Update soon #MuthiahMuralidaran @MovieTrainMP #MuralidaranBiopic #MSSripathy #Vivekrangachari @proyuvraaj pic.twitter.com/lUbJwyiDsy. It was only by the 1990s that most of the estate Tamils were given their citizenship back. Going vegan is good for the planet. Some in the Tamil film industry have strongly criticised the calls for Sethupathi to withdraw from the project. Though both ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Tamils of Indian speak the same language and are mainly Hindu, their role in Sri Lankan politics is markedly different. By the end of his career, Muralitharan was easily the greatest cricketer Sri Lanka has produced and is arguably the greatest spinner the game of cricket has even seen. Though Muralitharan is a Tamil from Sri Lanka, he is of Indian origin, His ancestors went to Sri Lanka during the British rule to work in the tea, coffee and rubber plantations during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Thamarai posted a picture on social media to prove her point on the resemblance. Slowly voices have started to emerge in Tamil Nadu in support of actor Vijay Sethupathi donning the lead role in the movie `800` a biopic of Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan… 800 teaser: Vijay Sethupathiâs impressive first look as Muttiah Muralitharan revealed. CHENNAI: Actor Vijay Sethupathi will not play Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan in his biopic '800'. The Sri Lankan government has since been accused of conducting a genocide against the minority Tamil population. But is it good for you? A reading of the Mahabharata reveals a startling possibility, Mamata Banerjee refuses to speak at Modi event for Netaji after âJai Shri Ramâ chants, Saba Naqvi: Does âMirzapurâ defame UP? Muttiah Muralitharan and the doomed biopic, Read this last night. âTamil Nadu politicians do not understand the problems of Sri Lankans,â he added. Notably, Tamil Nadu will go to polls next year. Muralitharanâs own life is a testimony to the violence that the estate Tamils faced at the hands of the Sinhalese people. Kavingar #Thamarai wants @VijaySethuOffl to act in #Prabhakaran's biopic. He does not shy away from experimenting with complex roles and is now considered one of the leading stars of Tamil cinema. Others were even sharper in their criticism of Muralitharan. The estate Tamils were also seen as enthusiastic participants in Left politics, something that fueled the Sinhalese nationalistsâ suspicion even more. A Tamil biopic on veteran Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan has become a flashpoint in Tamil Nadu over what is seen as the celebrated bowler’s “support” for the Sinhalese-led government in Colombo during the country’s 26-year-long civil war. His as well ass Varun Chakaravarthy's uprising is some what fairytale like. Muttiah Muralitharan on retiring and the challenges he has faced in his career Muralitharan has close links with India, especially Tamil Nadu. For instance, when I made a statement in 2019 that 2009 was the best year of my life, it was misconstrued that I was celebrating the genocide of Eelam Tamils. The controversies around his bowling action, which led to umpires accusing him of chucking the ball, made him a sort of a rallying point for the country, transcending communal divisions. But in public life, Muralitharan had continuously faced accusations of not doing enough to help the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka, both during the civil war and in its aftermath. The actor has in recent times been praised for his performances in movies such as 96 and Super Delux. If youâd met the dons I have, youâd know how bad it really is, The mass radicalisation that India does not acknowledge, Citizenship Act protest: Police baton-charge activists at torch rally ahead of Modiâs visit to Assam. I was happy that there were no deaths on both sides in those ten years. In 1948, the estate Tamils were stripped of their citizenship and voting rights by the Sri Lankan government.Tamil Congress Party chief GG Ponnambalam voted in favour of the move and Tamil stalwart SJV Chelvanayagam opposed it. After days of pressure from fringe Tamil outfits and even sections of the film industry, Murali in a statement on Monday asked the actor to withdraw from the film and to not jeopardize his career. ?why not ask @SunRisers why he is the head coach, team belongs to a Tamilian with political affiliations?VSP is an actor, and do not curb an actor. She doesn't want people to call him an Ettappan of #Tamil community. After I succeeded in cricket, I wanted fellow Tamils to develop self confidence and come up in life.â. But this attempt by Tamil nationalist groups to play super censor and dictate terms to the cinema star has not gone unopposed. Vijay Sethupathi has opted out of Muttiah Muralitharan biopic after request from cricketer. Often referred to as âestate Tamilsâ or âupcountry Tamilsâ, this community is primarily concentrated in the central regions of Sri Lanka. Two days later, legendary Tamil film director Bharathiraja, known for his Tamil nationalist sympathies, wrote an open letter to Sethupathi, pleading with him to drop out of the project. However controversy immediately followed. Executed the yorker well + good slow ball and bouncer. THOOTHUKUDI: Actor Vijay Sethupathi should rethink his decision to act in "800", a biopic of legendary cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan, said Publicity and Information Minister Kadambur C Raju. Tamil filmstar Vijay Sethupathi’s decision to opt out of a biopic on legendary Sri Lankan Tamil cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is another tragedy to befall Tamil Nadu’s love-hate relations with the island nation. Muralitharan was also one of the very few Tamils in the Sri Lankan cricket team in the 1990s. Watchhttps://t.co/iVhrHvljH4 pic.twitter.com/eusJYBrXbK. Muralitharan said that the film was facing hurdles as he had in many aspects of life. He also listed several of his initiatives to help Eelam Tamils, arguing that he has probably done more for them than for his own community. Some people in SL still have a problem with Murali's action but I don't think anyone would be against making of this film. ), Muttiah Muralitharan biopic '800' launched, https://thefederal.com/states/south/tamil-nadu/tn-spins-love-for-natarajan-but-serves-the-yorker-for-muralitharan/, https://in.style.yahoo.com/muttiah-muralitharan-and-the-doomed-biopic-143054387.html, http://www.defence.lk/Article/view_article/2784, http://slcricketfans.com/showthread.php?tid=2851&pid=201918#pid201918. I have never supported genocide, and I never will. Posting here because this is related to cricket and issues discussed on the thread. They believe that the actor Vijay Sethupathi, a rising star of Tamil cinema, should not become a vehicle to glorify Muralitharan, whose politics, they allege, has damaged to the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils. Thamarai suggested that Sethupati should instead essay the role of the LTTE chief rather than that of Muralitharan. Not many could miss the uncanny resemblance the star had to Muralitharan in the first-look posters. âThey should allow our government to get on with governance.â. He said: âThere have been many allegations levelled against me that I supported genocide. Natrajan is from a rural area with very little access to cricket, in a poor-er household and played tennis ball cricket till he was 25. The producers of the film have also clarified that the film will not in any manner show the Eelam Tamils in a bad light. Several political parties and Tamil nationalist sympathisers have claimed that the movie an attempt to whitewash a figure who is problematic in Sri Lanka. VSP&cricket both donât warrant nonsense. TN spins love for Natarajan but serves the yorker for Muralitharan. However, Thol Thirumavalavan stated that this should not be seen as attempts to curtail freedom of expression. Several users have alleged that Muttiah Muralitharan, an Indian-origin cricket player, is a supporter of the Sri Lankan government that is accused of Tamil genocide. According to historian KM de Silva in his book A History of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese politicians were deeply suspicious of the estate Tamils and feared their domination in the central hill areas. I guess the argument is people living in SL are hesitant to publicly speak against Murali regarding this matter because of the possible backlash from the majority. At the same time, Sethupathi also received support from big stars who urged him to take up the project. However, in a statement on Monday, the cricketer said he had asked Sethupathi to withdraw from the project to ensure the actorâs career is not affected by the association. Saw this guy in a couple of T20I matches. Murali was a victim of an uneducated bunch of idiots. As a minority community living in Sinhalese-majority Sri Lanka, Tamils battled low self- esteem. But in 1977 and 1983, his family was attacked by anti-Tamil mobs and their factory and home were damaged. Muralitharan’s wife Madhimalar is from Tamil Nadu. Legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is in the news for his upcoming biopic where the Tamil superstar Vijay Setupathi is all set to play the lead role of the leg spinner who took 800 wickets in the International arena and is regarded as one of the greatest spinners to have ever graced the game. Over the last week, the announcement of a biopic on legendary off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has caused a heated controversy in Tamil Nadu. Murali didn't get yorked, he yorkedhimself. Opinion: What Nidhi Razdan phishing case and Arnab Goswami chats tell us about Indian media today, âPlease donât follow me nowâ: Actor Rhea Chakraborty asks paparazzi when spotted in Mumbai, When did Bhishma die? Over the last week, the announcement of a biopic on legendary off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has caused a heated controversy in Tamil Nadu. Controversy over ‘800’ movie In 1977, Muralitharan witnessed an assault on his father arson attack on their factory by Sinhalese during violence against Tamils. In the letter, Bharathiraja claimed that Muralitharan was a traitor of the Tamil race for the way he conducted himself during the civil war, which ended with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009 and which left lakhs of civilians dead. Politicians such as Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan and Naam Tamizhar Katchi leader Seeman joined the chorus of appeals to the actor to drop out of the project. 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