The film has been taken down from Amazon Prime in Canada but is still available for streaming in India.
Karthick Naren’s Mafia: Chapter 1 which released on Amazon Prime towards the end of March, has run into trouble. The film is about a narcotics officer who’s after a drug lord. However, after it was released on the streaming platform in many countries, including Canada, it was alleged that the makers have illegally used the photographs of real life persons, suggesting that they’re criminals.
In fact, these persons were victims of a Canadian serial killer named Bruce McArthur. Though TNM was unable to get in touch with Karthick Naren to confirm the reports, the photographs of the victims of the real life case are available online and can be easily verified with the images shown in the film. The images are first shown about 24 minutes into the film and later at 39 minutes on a whiteboard with markings. The board supposedly lays out the ‘network of criminals’ that needs to be investigated.
Following objections, the film is no longer streaming in Canada on Amazon Prime. However, it is still available in India.
CBC reported that the five men whose photographs were wrongly used were of Sri Lankan and Middle Eastern descent. Their names are Skandaraj Navaratnam, Selim Esen, Abdulbasir Faizi, Kirushna Kanagaratnam and Soroush Mahmudi.
The report also stated that families of the victims were saddened to see the photographs being used in such a manner. According to the report, Lyca Productions, the producer of the film, has offered an unconditional apology to the families and has promised to blur the faces of the victims once the COVID-19 lockdown in India is lifted. It appears that the photographs were randomly downloaded from the internet and used without verification.
Bruce McArthur, the serial killer, was arrested in 2018. He pleaded guilty to killing eight men between 2010 and 2017. He was 66 years old at the time of arrest and was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole.
Mafia: Chapter 1 released in theatres on February 21 and received mostly negative reviews. The film stars Arun Vijay and Priya Bhavani Shankar in the lead roles.
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Source: The News Minute