Director Leena Manimekalai has approached the Supreme Court of India to quash the nine FIRs against her in connection to her film poster that depicts the Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette and carrying the LGBTQIA+ flag. She has also sought protection from the apex court in the cases registered against her, The Hindu reported on Sunday, January 15. The first hearing will be taken up on January 20.
The controversy began last July when the director, currently based in Toronto, shared the film’s poster via her Twitter account. The documentary, Kaali, was set to premiere in Canada’s Aga Khan Museum, as part of its ‘Under the Tent’ project. The poster triggered outrage from right-wing organisations and leaders, who said that the poster hurt their religious sentiments. The filmmaker was attacked with death threats, trolling and a hashtag demanding her arrest also went viral.
The Indian High Commission in Ottawa issued a statement urging the Canadian authorities to take down all “provocative material” related to the film after it received complaints from Hindus in Canada.
In response to the outrage, the Aga Khan Museum issued an apology. In a statement released at the time, they said that the Toronto Metropolitan University brought together works from students of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds for the ‘Under the Tent’ project, with each student exploring their individual sense of belonging as part of Canadian multiculturalism for the project.
In July 2022, Coimbatore police arrested the president of a right-wing group for allegedly issuing death threats to the director. The woman, Saraswati, claimed to be the president of the Shakti Sena Hindu Makkal Iyakkam. She had posted a video on social media, in which she was seen using abusive language against the filmmaker and threatening to kill her. Based on this, the Selvapuram police registered a case against Saraswati and arrested her.
In the days following the controversy, Leena issued a statement saying, “The film is about the events during Kaali's strolls through the streets of Toronto city one fine evening. “If they watch the movie, they will put the hashtag ‘love you Leena Manimekalai’ rather than ‘arrest Leena Manimekalai.’”
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