It is not everyday you watch a biopic with the subject of the biopic sitting next to you. I had the chance to sit next to cricketing legend Mutthaih Muralidharan while watching his biopic 800 yesterday. Muralidharan greeted fans at Reel Cinemas Dubai Mall and sat through the whole film savoring in people’s reactions to the incidents in his life. Like most biopics, the film chooses to delve into the trials and tribulations of a real hero’s life, never for a moment revealing his inner demons.
The Tamil speaking Sri Lankan cricketing legend’s story is simply said and doesn’t pretend to be larger than life. Quite like him, it is unassuming and doesn’t burst into a heady marketing blitzkrieg of film promotions and amplification. And therein lies its beauty. It follows his style of “Show don’t tell,” and slowly you see the genius of the man unfold despite setbacks, insults, racism, politics including accusations of “chucking.”
Averaging over six wickets per Test match, Muralitharan is widely regarded as the most successful and one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the sport. He is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets and more than 530 One Day International (ODI) wickets, also the reason the movie is named such. Muralitharan was a part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
On one layer, 800 is a survival story of a Tamil in Sri Lanka written by MS Sripathy ( also the director) and Booker prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka. The film follows the story of a Tamil immigrant family that migrated to Sri Lanka to work in the tea plantations who built their life and faced opposition during the Tamil – Sinhalese clashes that happened in the country eventually. At the age of 5, a young Murali saw his father’s biscuit factory burn to ashes during the clash and at nearly every milestone of his life, face incidents such as bomb blasts, massacre, espionage and more.Murali’s grand mother played an important part in fueling his love for cricket. She often bullied older boys playing cricket in the neighborhood to include the 6 year old in their team and she was successful. He was always the youngest in the gang but the most passionate. Murali’s parents, though worried about his choices initially lend him full support to pursue his dreams.
Madhur Mittal of Slumdog Millionaire fame plays Murali. Madhur incidentally has played sportsman in some of his earlier films and is fond of cricket and gets close to the character of the small town boy Murali who hails from Kandy not Colombo. When the duo met, Murali told Madhur to desist from copying him and be himself. So Madhur brings his own to the role too apart from being a caricature of the cricketing legend.
The scene where he forgets his ID and has to kneel in front of an army officer wielding a gun at him, in his own country, is a statement in the film. The voiceover tells you “For someone who hails from a group of migrant labourers, getting recognised as a citizen itself is very tough,”
At another instance when his father asks him if he identifies as a Tamil or a Sri Lankan, he states that he is a cricketer, rising above all differences. Before his India tour, he playfully asks his grandma that he is going to play against her country and who will she support? The same incident occurs when his Indian wife is torn between his two worlds. She asks him that if she doesn’t support him and sides with her country, she will be called a bad wife and if she does the opposite, she might be labelled a bad citizen. To which he says, “Welcome to my world.” Muralitharan married Chennai girl Madhimalar Ramamoorty.
The scene where he creates history by taking his 800th wicket is a magical and emotional one. As he told me himself ‘It is a fairytale.’ So are some of the scenes with his captain Arjuna Ranatunga and his interaction with the Indian cricketing legend Kapil Dev.
Bankrolled jointly by Movie Train Motion Picture and Vivek Rangachari, 800’s music has been composed by Ghibran while RD Rajasekar ISC has handled its cinematography and Praveen KL the editing. It is directed by MS Sripathy. A film worth watching !
