Madhurr Mittal On Playing Muttiah Muralidaran

One doesn’t know if the two Ms in  the two names have anything to do  with it. But Madhurr Mittal, best known for playing the main antagonist  in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, has finally bagged the role he has been  waiting for.

Mittal plays legendary  cricketer  Muttiah Muralidaran  in a  bio-pic entitled 800  written and directed by MS Sripathy , it  will release in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu.

The original choice for the role  was  the iconic Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi.  But he backed  out after some of Muralidaran’s  controversial speeches on the Tamil ethnic  identity were uncovered.

Madhurr Mittal was chosen for his talent and  his physical resemblance to the cricketer.

Speaking  exclusively to this writer  Madhurr  says,  “Firstly, there’s a lot of gratitude. I’ve been grinding it out for almost 25 years in the industry now so, it’s gratifying to finally have my first movie as a solo lead.”

Madhur realizes the enormity of the  honour given to him to  play Muralidaran. “The magnitude of responsibility one has while portraying a real-life legend like Mr. Muralidaran is not lost on me. Add to it the fact that 800 is much more than just a sports film.It’s also a character study. Now this makes it a really potent mix for an actor famished for challenges.So yes, I’m an eager beaver right now!”

Madhurr is agog as to  audiences’ reaction. “Looking forward to the release so people can see me do something they’ve never seen or maybe even expected from me before. Exciting times ahead for me!”