In lieu of the upcoming release of his movie Mafia, which is due to hit theater screens on February 21, 2020 director Karthick Naren met the press today and gave details about his movie. Excerpts here:

• Naren revealed that Arun Vijay plays an officer in narcotics control bureau, Priya Bhavani Shankar his colleague and Prasanna the villain. “The reason behind choosing Arun Vijay was his physique as it involved lots of action and Prasanna for his inbuilt aggressiveness. Priya will be seen in a different light from what she has done so far", he added.

• "Mafia is inspired from Narcos, but the similarities will end with the narcotics element. I'm a big fan of Christopher Nolan and Mani Ratnam, so the narrative style will have influences from them", stated Naren adding that the film is a "westernized take" in its genre.

• The director revealed that Mafia was shot throughout in Chennai except for a 3 day portion at Thailand and it comes with a non-linear narration like his debut movie D 16.

• According to him Mafia has "only hints of romance" between the lead couple. "We avoided it as it would deviate from the story. I believe in engaging the audiences with the presentation itself, so it's a conscious decision", Naren justified.

• "Mafia is the story of two morally different people taking each other head on.. it will be more mainstream to reach the larger audiences. I see songs as a narrative tool, and the script demanded it. The film will have four songs. It won't hamper the narrative", the director concluded.