'800' goes beyond cricket to tell an emotional story: Sivalenka Krishna Prasad

Former Sri Lankan cricketing great Muthiah Muralidaran's biopic '800' will arrive at the cinemas on October 6th. Starring Madhur Mittal of 'Slumdog Millionaire' fame as the protagonist, the film will be released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi across India by Sridevi Movies' Sivalenka Krishna Prasad.

In his latest interview, Krishna Prasad said that the film will be released on 1100 screens in India. The overseas distribution has been done by Lyca Productions. Many experienced players have converged to make '800' a big project at the box office. The Telugu version has the backing of the likes of Dil Raju and Suniel Narang, who are distributing it in key territories like Vizag, Uttarandhra and Nizam.

Director MS Sripathy and Krishna Prasad have been good acquaintances for many years. "His script is moving. I loved the script and even asked him to pitch it to Nani. Since Nani had done 'Jersey', which too was anchored in cricket, he only listened to the script. It was two months ago that I took over '800'. The way the biopic has shaped up, I am proud. The film was made in Tamil originally. It has been dubbed into Telugu and Hindi. The Telugu audience have always encouraged good films from other languages," Krishna Prasad says.

Talking about the film's merits, Krishna Prasad indicates that the film's integrity and its aversion towards exaggerations is worthy of appreciation. "A biopic has to be about the person's life. Muralidaran, above all, doesn't encourage fictionalization. The controversy related to 'chucking' is a key episode in '800'. What all Muralidran went through as a Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, due to cricketing controversies and other aspects have been dealt with," he says.

Mahima Nambiar plays Madhimalar Ramamurthy, the former cricketer's wife, in this film. The film also features Naren, Nassar, Vela Ramamoorthy, Riythvika, Vadivukkarasi, Arul Das, Hari Krishnan, and Sarath Lohithaswa. Ghibran has composed the music.