Leena Manimekalai has been booked by the Delhi Police over her new film Kaali which is scheduled to be launched at Aga Khan Museum, Canada.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the Delhi Police has filed an FIR against documentary filmmaker Leena Manimekalai for allegedly posting a disparaging image of a Hindu deity Kaali on her Twitter account.
The FIR says that the director allegedly tried to “create animosity amongst different communities on religious grounds.”
According to police, Ms. Manimekalai was announcing the release of her new documentary film, ‘Kaali.’ On June 2, she tweeted, “Super thrilled to share the launch of my recent film – today at @AgaKhanMuseum as part of its “Rhythms of Canada”.
WHO IS LEENA MANIMEKALAI?
Leena Manimekalai is a filmmaker, poet, and actor. Her literary works include five poetry anthologies and a dozen genre films, including documentary, fiction, and experimental poem films. Many international and national film festivals have recognized her with participation, mentions, and best picture awards.
She made her debut in 2002 with the short documentary film Mathamma, following a brief stint as an assistant director with mainstream filmmakers and extensive experience as a television producer and anchor. Mathamma, the first documentary by her focuses on the ritual of dedicating girl children to the deity, which is common among the Arundhatiyar group in Mangattucheri village in Arakkonam, Chennai. Her other films, too, deal with themes affecting the marginalized. The film Parai is about brutality against Dalit women.
Leena traveled across hundreds of communities with her films, using them as a medium for interactive discourse with the masses on pressing topics.
Manimekalai was given a visual arts scholarship with PSBT to study Tamil Women’s Poetry and Desire in the Sangam, Medieval, and Modern periods. “My Mirror is the Door” is a visual journey through Sangam Age Tamil Women Poetry, tracing her beginnings as a modern Tamil poet.
IAWRT (International Association of Women in Radio and Television) awarded her a fellowship to create a video portrait “Still I Rise” of Dayamani Barla, the first Indigenous Adivasi woman journalist who rose to become a vibrant political leader in Jharkhand.
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