image source, LEENA MANIMEKALAI
While the poster of Leena Manimegalai’s documentary ‘Kali’ is in controversy, its director Leena Manimegalai has been booked in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Recently, Leena Manimegala posted the ‘First Look’ poster of the performance documentary ‘Kali’ directed by her on her Twitter page. This is at the heart of the current controversy.
The poster features a woman dressed as ‘Kali’ with a cigarette in her mouth and a LGBT flag in her hand.
Reactions to the poster started pouring in within hours of its release.
The hashtag ‘ArrestLeenaManimekalai’ trended on Twitter across India on July 4.
Case registration in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
In this case, a complaint was lodged with the Delhi Police on Monday (July 4) against the director Leena Manimekalai for the poster of the documentary ‘Kali’ which hurt religious sentiments. A Delhi-based lawyer Vineet Jindal has filed a complaint against him. He said the poster of Kali was “highly objectionable”.
In his complaint regarding the controversial poster shared by Leena on July 2, lawyer Vineet Jindal has sought a ban on the objectionable photograph and clipping from the documentary.
Vineet Jindal has said that the poster, which shows a woman dressed as Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette, hurts the sentiments and beliefs of the Hindu community.
Similarly, Special IFSO Cell of Delhi Police has also registered a case against Leena Manimekalai under Sections 153A and 295A of the IPC.
Also, a case has been registered against him in Uttar Pradesh. A case has been registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. Assistant Commissioner Akhilesh Singh confirmed this.
Also, the Indian High Commission in Canada on Monday night asked the organizers of the screening of Leena Manimegala’s documentary ‘Kali’ to withdraw the “provocative” poster.
The Indian High Commission also said that the event organizers have been informed about the “complaints raised by leaders of the Hindu community in Canada” regarding the poster.
What does Lena Manimegalai say?
Regarding this controversy, in an interview given to BBC Tamil by Leena Manimegal, “As far as I’m concerned, Kali is an ambitious person who tramples on all that is considered monstrous and tramples on all the heads of evil. Such a person entered me for one evening and went to the city of Toronto. Kali is a film that shows what happens if you crawl on the streets.
The Kali that descends on me because I am a milkmaid and a woman who directs films, the milkmaid holds the flag and the camera.
Canada’s homeless poor black working people sleeping in a park have only a cigarette to entertain them. Kali accepts it with love,” he explained about the documentary.
image source, Getty Images
Who is this Lena Manimegali?
A versatile poet, documentary filmmaker and independent film director, Leena Manimekalai has directed films and documentaries on struggles against sexual and social oppression.
His Tamil Nadu films like ‘Maadathi’ and ‘Red Sea’ have received international attention. His films have also been screened at international film festivals. Leena Manimegali has also received various international awards.
Currently, he is studying film production in Canada. “York University in Canada invited me as an internationally active creative and offered me a scholarship, a platform for further training and an opportunity for a Masters degree,” Leena Manimegala told BBC Tamil.
In India, the portrayal of religious deities on screen has always been considered a ‘sensitive’ matter. The Censor Board removed some scenes from the 2015 Bollywood film ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’.
Many film directors have faced criticism for their depictions of religion.
Symbols of female deities are repeatedly shown in Lena Manimegalai’s screenplays. In his documentary Goddesses, he documents the lives of ordinary women who do extraordinary work, such as the oppari singer, the woman who disposes of abandoned corpses, the fisherwoman. The 2019 film ‘Madathi’ is based on the story of how a young girl from an oppressed society becomes a goddess and immortal.
Meanwhile, Leena Manimekalai had filed a sexual complaint against Tamil film director Susi Ganesan in 2018. In this regard, in the defamation case filed by Sushi Ganesan, the Madras High Court had imposed an interim injunction on Leena Manimekalai for publishing untrue and baseless comments against Sushi Ganesan. While Lena Manimegala is involved in the ‘Kali’ documentary controversy, the case is coming up for hearing again today.
image source, @LEENAMANIMEKALI/TWITTER
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