The retelling of the life of a genius

800

Tamil (Theatres)

Director: M S Sripathy

Cast: Madhur Mittal, Mahima Nambiar, King Ratnam, Nassar

Rating: 3.5/5

As a fan of Muttiah Muralitharan, I was excited to watch '800'. What I expected was a biopic centered on the man. But what I got was a narrative bigger than the man and the game of cricket.

The story is told from the perspective of a Sri Lankan reporter, played by Nassar, about to witness Murali taking his 800th test wicket. It is then that we are taken back to the beginning, back to Murali’s childhood and the escalating tensions between the Tamils and the Sinhalese.

Adult Murali is played by Madhur Mittal and he reels you right in, however, you are left chuckling at the other famous faces, such as Kapil Dev and Shane Warne, that make an appearance. Don’t expect to be swept up by fancy slow motion shots of the game. Much of the drama and spectacle are left to the viewer’s imagination.

It also focuses on Murali battling the ICC to prove that his bowling action is not illegal. What could have been a humdrum watch is adeptly transformed into a larger narrative of Murali having a crisis of confidence and forming an identity of his own.

Sports is often an allegory for life’s challenges but this movie places that allegory back into a complex reality, one where the journey to stardom is as precarious as the society we live in.