800 review: A compelling biopic on the Sri Lankan cricket legend

Director MS Sripathy seems to have gone the extra mile by digging deeper into ace cricketer Muralidaran’s difficult past to come up with a compelling biopic on the Sri Lankan ace cricketer — 800: The Movie.

The film comprehensively depicts the significant events in the life of Muthiah Muralidaran from the time he was a boy to the time he achieved the record of scoring 800 test wickets — a feat no other cricketer had done before.

800 also presents the sensitive events that happened both in Sri Lanka and in the life of Muthiah Muralidaran, from the viewpoint of the cricketer.

An honest viewpoint

Director MS Sripathy seems to have been not just careful but also honest about the way certain controversial topics have been dealt with in his movie.

From the way Tamils are shown being attacked by Sinhalese people in the island nation to the way the Australian umpires chose to hound the spinning ace with allegations of chucking despite the ICC clearing the bowler’s legitimate bowling action, Sripathy doesn’t look to hide or distort facts.

Having said that, the director also does not delve deep into controversies and looks to only make fleeting references to such incidents and move on.

MS Sripathy partly succeeds in making 800 strike a chord with you. At some point, you begin to empathise with Muralidaran for the unfortunate and difficult position he found himself to be in.

However, the film’s content is not so strong as to leave lingering memories in you once you exit the theatre.

What it does in driving across is that it makes you understand that Muralidaran, despite having been honest to his craft and himself, has had to repeatedly keep proving himself because random people kept casting aspersions on him.

The film does not just show the challenges that the cricketer faced but also all those who stood by him during his darkest hours, such as Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

Related: ‘800’ team braved riots in Sri Lanka to finish shoot: Muralidaran

Performances

Madhurr Mittal, as Muthiah Muralidaran, does a reasonable job of playing the spin legend.

Since his bowling action is not quite the same as Muralidharan’s unique bowling action, the actor struggles to replicate the spinner’s mannerisms on the field. However, he is a lot more convincing as Muralidaran off the field.

Mahima Nambiyar, as Madhi Malar, is just perfect. The actress, who appears only for a brief while, is a natural and waltzes into the role of Muralidaran’s life partner with absolute ease.

Sri Lankan actor King Ratnam, who plays Arjuna Ranatunga, comes up with a fantastic performance, as do Nassar as Mugunthan Sathasivam and Vela Ramamurty as Muthiah.

Master Rythvik, who plays the six-year-old Muralidaran, is just adorable and steals your heart right at the start of the film.

Ghibran’s music goes with the flow and RD Rajasekar’s cinematography is neat.

Final take

In all, Sripathy’s 800 is a reasonably good film which is likely to delight cricket lovers while coming across as a fairly engaging entertainer to film lovers.

(Views expressed here are personal.)

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