Muttiah Muralidaran says he was hesitant to give his nod to 800: Didn’t want to take...

Madhur Mittal’s next 800 will make its theatrical debut next month. The film is a sports biopic of Sri Lankan cricket legend Muthiah Muralidaran. Ahead of its release, the cricketer attended the film's trailer launch event. He shared that he was initially hesitant about the idea of a film based on his life but eventually agreed to the project.

3 things you need to know

• 800 is based on the life events of Muthiah Muralidaran, one of the most successful bowlers in the history of the game. 
• The title of the film refers to the total number of test wickets taken by the cricketer in his career.
• In February 2009, Muralidaran also assumed the record for most wickets taken in ODI, surpassing the 502 wickets taken by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram.

Muttiah Muralidaran says 800 is all about the 'inside' story

During the trailer launch of the film, Muralidaran said that 800 would not be a conventional retelling of his cricketing achievements but instead, it will delve into untold stories and the behind-the-scene journey of reaching the historic milestone.

Muralidaran explained, "The film doesn’t talk about my records. It talks about how I achieved the figure 800. It is all about the inside story. There are some stories that even I don’t know because my director researched for two years, stayed in Colombo, went to my places, met my friends. It’s a true story, so nothing has been added. We have shown what has happened. So there are a lot of these inside stories.”

(Muttiah Muralidaran at 800 trailer launch | Image: Varinder Chawla)

'I didn't want to take this movie up' 

Muttiah Muralidaran credited filmmaker Venkat Prabhu, a childhood friend of his wife, for planting the idea of a biopic. The cricket legend said that he was initially sceptical about the project but eventually, he recognised the film's potential to showcase the untold story of Sri Lanka's rise as a cricketing nation.

“I didn’t want to take this movie up in the first place. It happened coincidentally. I was at first hesitant, then my manager told me that I should do it and give the rights to them. So with this film, people will know the untold story of me and Sri Lanka, how it developed as a cricketing nation,” he added.

Meanwhile, the trailer for 800 was unveiled by cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, accompanied by Muttiah Muralidaran and former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain Sanath Jayasuriya. Actor Madhur Mittal, who portrays Muralidaran in the film, shared some of the challenges he faced while preparing for the role.