30 August, 2015:
Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) has said that it is taking legal actions over a Bollywood film named ‘Phantom’ as they claim that the film could endanger its staffs.
The movie ‘Phantom’ stars Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan as an Indian soldier pursuing Pakistani militants alleged to have planned the 2008 attacks on Mumbai and actress Katrina Kaif, an aid worker who works for a charity named Medicine International.
The general director of MSF India has said that the organization in the film bears a confusingly similar aspects to MSF, whilst others are entirely incorrect.
MSF has said that they became aware of its association with ‘Phantom’ after one of the actors in the film said, “their character in the film worked for MSF.” And the same character was also shown holding a gun in the film’s trailer, something an MSF staff member would never do.
The charity says that it operates in a strict “no-guns policy” with none of its staffs armed.
Though the film does not mention ‘MSF’ by name, a statement released by MSF said that it was taking legal actions to correct the misrepresentation.
The film’s producers have yet to respond to the accusations.
A Pakistani court has banned the movie in response to a complaint by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of a Pakistani militant group who has been accused by India of plotting the Mumbai attacks.
