FIR lodged against ‘Kaali’ director for hurting religious sentiments 

New Delhi: In the latest development, an FIR has been lodged against director Leena Mainmekalai for hurting religious sentiments in her movie based on Hindu Goddess ‘Kaali’. In the poster of the documentary, she allegedly showed maa Kaali smoking a cigarette.

The poster was released by the director on Sunday on her social media accounts. Sharing the poster of the film, she wrote on Facebook, ”Super Thrilled to share the launch of my recent film today at Aga Khan Museum. A 6 minute excerpt of the film, ”Kaali” will be shown today as part of Aga Khan Museum’s ”Rhythms of Canada”, a week-long festival celebrating the diverse tapestry of Canadian Culture. Entrance to the event and the Museum’s permanent collection Gallery during the festival is free.”

In the post, she also said the film will be shown at Aga Khan Museum in Toronto as a part of the ”Rhythms of Cananda”.

Check the Twitter post here:

Super thrilled to share the launch of my recent film – today at @AgaKhanMuseum as part of its “Rhythms of Canada”
Link: https://t.co/RAQimMt7Ln

I made this performance doc as a cohort of https://t.co/D5ywx1Y7Wu@YorkuAMPD @TorontoMet @YorkUFGS

Feeling pumped with my CREW❤️ pic.twitter.com/L8LDDnctC9

— Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 2, 2022

Soon after the poster went viral on the internet, it drew flak on different social media platforms. Many people shared their reactions to the poster under the hashtag, #arrestleenamanimekalai.

In the poster shared by Madurai-born Toronto-based filmmaker, one can see a woman dressed as Maa Kaali is smoking cigarette. In the background, one can also see a flag of the LGBT community.

”Such mockery of our adorable deities will not be tolerated. #ArrestLeenaManimekalai and ban this documentary in India,” wrote a user on Twitter.

Such mockery of our adorable deities will not be tolerated. #ArrestLeenaManimekalai and ban this documentary in India. pic.twitter.com/HD30cApTuQ

— Friends of RSS (@friendsofrss) July 3, 2022

”I demand immediate arrest of film maker Leena Manimekalai,” wrote another user.

I demand immediate arrest of film maker Leena Manimekalai.#arrestleenamanimekalai @pradip103 @YogiDevnath2 pic.twitter.com/32F6ob4KfZ

— Vikram Bawa 🇮🇳 (@VikramBawaBJP) July 4, 2022

Unacceptable & abuse of freedom of expression#ArrestLeenaManimekalai pic.twitter.com/j4qb1ed7xM

— Rahul Easwar (@RahulEaswar) July 3, 2022

If showing #Kaali smoking cigarette 🚬 is freedom of Art… can i make a poster showing #LeenaManimekalai eating shit ? #ArrestLeenaManimekalai @beingarun28

— Sumit Subhash Gupta ( [email protected] ) (@Sumitkumaar_) July 4, 2022