Days after Tamil film industry’s most bankable star Vijay Sethupathi said ‘he was looking forward to’ playing the lead role in biopic ‘800’, based on Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, Netizens used the hashtag #ShameOnVijaySethupati to convey their anger and disappointment.

Critics took to social media to convey their anger over the 42-year-old actor taking up the role of the Tamil-origin cricketer who they say never raised his voice against the alleged high-handedness that the Sri Lankan government is reported to have imposed on the country’s Tamil population in the decades-long conflict.

A user termed the actor taking up the role a ‘sell out’ and asked how he could be proud to ‘bear that blood stain flag.’

Another user said his accepting the film offer was akin to playing Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi and it would ‘hurt Indians’ feelings’

“Lost my respect… what were you thinking,” wrote another user attacking the actor who was recently seen in ‘Ka Pae Ranasingam’.

Earlier this month, announcing the biopic, Sethupathi had written, “I am happy to be associated with the Muthiah Muralitharan biopic; he is an iconic sportsman of Tamil origin and someone who’s made his mark across the world. Portraying the role of Murali is going to be a challenge for me & I’m looking forward to it.”

Also read: Legendary Sri Lanka spinner Muralitharan’s biopic to go on stream early next year

The movie, ‘800’, will be shot in Sri Lanka, UK, Australia and India. The shoot is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2021 and is set to release at the end of next year. The movie will be made in Tamil but is likely to be dubbed in several other Indian languages and also in English.

Tamil-origin Muralitharan, one of the most successful bowlers,  holds the record for taking 800 wickets in Test cricket. He also has 534 and 13 wickets respectively in 350 ODIs and 12 T20s to his credit.

Muralitharan, whose grandfather moved from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka in 1920, married Chennai girl Madhimalar Ramamurthy in 2005.