Vanishing Act trailer on MH370 draws flak on social media

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A trailer on the movie Vanishing Act, which claims to disclose the untold story behind the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, has attracted criticism on social media.

Netizens on Monday slammed the trailer, saying it was insensitive of the director to try and milk money out of a disaster.

YouTube user ToraydoBull said: "The plane has yet to be found and these people are already trying to make money out of it. Ruthless. I would not pay a cent to watch this."

Elie Jolie added: "The director, Rupesh Paul, is disrespectful. He is milking a terrible tragedy where people lost their lives and the families still have no closure just to get fame and money. It is despicable."

The one and a half minute trailer, which was recently featured on YouTube, had received 272 dislikes and almost a hundred negative comments, as opposed to 80 likes and a few comments supporting the idea.

It is learnt that associate director Sritama Dutta denied the movie had any relation with the real incident, saying that the only similarity with the disaster was that it involved a missing plane.

A Boeing 747 was used in the trailer as opposed to the Boeing 777, which went missing.

The movie, directed by Rupesh Paul, is apparently based on the information from the theories of a Malaysian journalist.

A shorter trailer was recently presented at the Cannes Film Festival.

The movie will be screened in the cinemas within the next few months, as shooting is expected to take 35 days, involving about 200 actors.

Flight MH370, with 239 people on board including 12 crewmembers, left the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea.

A multinational search was mounted for the Boeing 777-200 aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learnt that the plane had veered off course, in the southern Indian Ocean.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.