Leena Manimekalai who identifies herself as bisexual and atheist said in her film Goddess Kaali inhabits her body and wanders the city streets. “My Kaali is queer.
She is a free spirit. She spits at the patriarchy. She dismantles Hindutva. She destroys capitalism. She embraces everyone with all her thousand hands,” she said.
In an interview with Voice of America, filmmaker Leena Manimakalai stated that she perceived Kaali as herself in the controversial documentary film poster depicting a woman smoking while disguised as the Hindu goddess Kaali. “My Kaali is gay. She is an individualist. She hurls insults at patriarchy.
She dismantles Hindutva. She ruins capitalism. She hugs everyone with every one of her a million hands “director said.
Several complaints have been lodged against the director in response to the poster’s continued controversy. The home minister of Madhya Pradesh, Narottam Mishra, urged Twitter to develop a method to evaluate and filter potentially controversial and inappropriate information.
Leena Manimekalai’s initial tweet containing the film’s poster has already been removed from Twitter.
Narottam Mishra stated in a letter to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, “As it is widely recognised that Twitter has become one of the most significant and trusted channels for disseminating news and other material throughout the world, a few persons are also attempting to get cheap attention utilising this platform.”
The Madhya Pradesh Police also issued a lookout notice for her.
Leena Manimekalai is receiving a full scholarship to study Master of Fine Arts at Canada’s York University.
In spite of the cancellation of the showing of Leena’s documentary by the Aga Khan Museum and Toronto Metropolitan University in response to the issue, Leena’s university has stated its support for her artistic freedom.
The poster for Kaali is not the first issue Leena has encountered. She made claims against director Susi Ganesan during the Me Too movement, and the lawsuit is ongoing.
Kaali is a film about Manimekalai, in whose body goddess Kaali roams the city streets while inhabiting the body of Manimekalai. A scenario depicts the goddess sharing a cigarette with a homeless guy.
Manimekalai identifies as bisexual and non-religious. “In rural Tamil Nadu, my home state, Kaali is regarded as a pagan deity.
She consumes meat cooked with goat’s blood, drinks rum, smokes beedi cigarettes, and engages in wild dancing; this is the Kaali I embodied for the film “In an interview with the Guardian, she stated.
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