MSF to take legal action against Phantom

NEW DELHI: International charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is taking legal action against the producers of Bollywood film Phantom, saying its misrepresentation of the medical group could put its aid workers in conflict zones at risk.

The  action-thriller features British-Indian  actress Katrina Kaif playing a role she has described as an MSF aid worker who helps a disgraced Indian soldier, played by actor Saif Ali  Khan, to assassinate Pakistani militants accused of being behind the  2008 Mumbai attacks.

In recent interviews, Kaif was quoted as saying, "NGO workers have ties with local  fanatical groups" in war-torn regions, without mentioning that many aid  groups maintain strict neutrality in order to do their work safely.

In the film's trailer, her character is seen firing a pistol and rifle in two different scenes. MSF  said it had not been consulted over the film’s content and was not  associated with it in any way. The humanitarian agency had "a strict no  guns policy" in all its clinics and did not employ armed guards, it  added.

"None of our staff would ever carry a gun. Any portrayal that  suggests otherwise is dangerous, misleading and wrong," MSF said in a  statement late on August 27.