After issues raised over usage of Toronto serial killing victim’s photographs, Arun Vijay starrer Mafia has been taken down from Amazon prime.
Mafia is a Tamil movie about drug mafia directed by ‘Dhuruvangal 16’ fame Karthick Naren. It was released on February 21, 2020, and recently was uploaded on the Amazon Prime streaming platform.
Almost 40 minutes into the movie, comes a scene where a couple of characters are discussing an investigation. There on the investigation board, five of the photographs used to portray criminals are found to the victims of a serial killing by Bruce McAurthur that happened in Toronto.
It has been reported by CBC News that family members of the victims are under shock and they are going through a lot of distress as the victims are portrayed as criminals. What also adds to the issue is that a couple of them were Srilankan Tamils.
The movie’s production house ‘Lyca Productions’ has come out with an unconditional apology and has said that the images from here on will be blurred. “We wish to place on record and tender our unconditional apology to the families of the people for the inadvertent distress caused to them.”
The statement read that the movie is a complete work of fiction and the photographs were downloaded from public forum randomly on the internet for the creative narration.
Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has taken down the movie from its platform. They have told CBC News in a written statement that they were concerned to learn that the movie uses pictures of the victims of the Toronto serial homicides and has immediately taken action.
While the movie itself was criticised for its quality, the lack of sensitivity and responsibility from director Karthick Naren has shocked the film fanatics.
