 "Leena Manimekalai shows goddess Kaali smoking cigarette in film, faces severe backlash for 'hurting religious sentiments")
Indian filmmaker Leena Manimekalai’s film Kaali is facing severe flak from for ‘insulting’ the Hindu goddess Kaali. The goddess is shown smoking a cigarette in the poster. The performance documentary was launched in Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum on 2 July as part of “Rhythms of Canada”. Rhythms of Canada is a week-long festival that celebrates the diverse tapestry of Canadian culture. The poster of Kaali features a woman dressed as the Goddess Kali. In the poster, the woman is seen smoking a cigarette while a pride flag hangs in the background. View the poster here:
The performance documentary was made with the support of the Tamil Arts Collective, Queer Summer Institute and School of Arts, Media Performance and Design, York University. The poster of the documentary has drawn flak, with several people accusing the filmmaker of ‘hurting religious sentiments’. The hashtag ‘ArrestLeenaManimekali’ has also been used by several of them. Many users have demanded strict action against the filmmaker.
Hey @AgaKhanMuseum docutry by @LeenaManimekali was screened on July 2 in which Hindu Goddess Kali depicted in objectionable manner. It has disturbed Hindus n U, producer n @YorkUFGS @YorkuAMPD r responsible for it. We will raise d issue with @DrSJaishankar @MEAIndia n @HCI_Ottawa pic.twitter.com/T1Gjq4tiPS
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) July 3, 2022
Madam, you also murdered the whole idea of respecting faith of 100 Cr Hindus by showing goddess Kali as smoker in your film
— Major Surendra Poonia (@MajorPoonia) July 4, 2022
To please your anti-Hindu masters and few penny 💵 you gone to gutter level of creativity !
Shameful & disgraceful 👎 https://t.co/Q3VNbiKge2 pic.twitter.com/fPoYLQYmen
Reacting to the controversy, Manimekalai wrote in Tamil, “The film revolves around the events that take place one evening, when Kali appears and strolls the streets of Toronto. If you see the picture, don’t put the hashtag “arrest Leena manimekalai” and put the hashtag “love you Leena Manimekalai”. View the post here:
ஒரு மாலைப்பொழுது, டோரோண்டோ மாநகரத்தில காளி தோன்றி வீதிகளில் உலா வரும்போது நடக்கிற சம்பவங்கள் தான் படம். படத்தைப்பார்த்தா “arrest leena manimekalai” hashtag போடாம “love you leena manimekalai” hashtag போடுவாங்க.✊🏽 https://t.co/W6GNp3TG6m
— Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 4, 2022
Manimekali is a poet and filmmaker whose works centre on the themes of gender, caste dynamics, globalisation, student politics, eco-feminism, art therapy, indigenous people’s rights, and LGBTQ lives. She has directed projects like Maadathy: An Unfairy Tale and Sengadal. This is not the first work to run afoul of social media users. In the recent past, web series like Bulbbul, Tandav and Paatal Lok were accused of ‘hurting religious sentiments. The makers of Tandav had issued an unconditional apology for hurting religious feelings. Many people had claimed that the series had shown Hindu deities in a bad light and also used casteist dialogues. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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