Cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan who is regarded as one of the greatest spinners was in City on 28 September to promote his biopic ‘800’. Film 800 is based on his life story and is titled on the number of wickets Muralitharan has taken in test crickets which is also a record yet to be broken.
His close friend Sourav Ganguly known as Prince of Calcutta graciously came to support him and help him promote the film in his home turf.
Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire actor Madhur Mittal will be seen portraying the role of the legendary Sri Lankan spinner in his biopic. The film will be released on October 6 in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu.
Murali and Madhur in the morning visited Saltlake Shiksha Niketan School to promote their movie. Later, they interacted with press at Grand hotel. They were also seen enjoying the delicacies from Kolkata in the hotel.
Speaking about the film Murali said, “You all have seen me playing cricket. The film is much more than that. It’s a story of my childhood and the struggles that I had to phase in my personal and professional journey.”
Speaking about portraying the legend on screen Madhur said, “It was challenging but I saw a lot of his videos and tried to learn mannerism. I met Murali sir just once before starting the shoot and the only advice he gave me was that I shouldn’t try and mimic him. I have tried doing justice and I hope he and his family like the portrayal.”
When asked about his experience in Kolkata, Murali said, “I am very happy that Sourav came to promote the film. We have played as rivals but he has been a great friend off the field. I admire him a lot.”