Why Does 'Kaali' Poster Show The Goddess Smoking A Cigarette? Here's What The Film Is About

On a film's poster, a woman dressed up as Goddess Kaali is holding an LGBTQ+ flag and smoking a cigarette. This one photo has caused a nationwide uproar and several police complaints against the director Leena Manimekalai. How can a goddess be shown smoking a cigarette in the name of artistic freedom - many people are asking this on Twitter. Or, are we judging the book by its cover?

Why does the film's poster show Goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette?

Twitter

Director Leena Manimekalai on Twitter had revealed what the movie is about.

In a tweet, she wrote, "The film is about the events during Kaali's strolls through the streets of Toronto city one fine evening."

Hindus and Hindus god were always targetted in India ? why? hang the culprits immediately #Kaali pic.twitter.com/90bC4HkMKM

¡ª Manohar Cm (@manu_cm_342) July 4, 2022

Furthermore, explaining the concept of the movie, she told BBC Tamil, "As far as I am concerned, Kaali is an ambitious, unbridled, primordial being who tramples on all that is considered monstrous, and who chops off all the heads of evil. Kaali is a film that shows what would happen if such a person got inside me for an evening and crawled the streets of Toronto."

Why is Kaali smoking a cigarette?

"My Kaali believes in love and sharing. She accepts the cigarette from a Black street dweller at a park around Kensington market in Toronto and listens to reggae," she added.

Twitter

In another interview with The Wire, Manimekalai said that Kaali has been inspired from Tamil and Telugu village rituals where she comes on people as a spirit, eats meat, smokes ganja, drinks country arrack, urinates in the middle of the village, spits on filth and dances wild.

"I embodied her and chose to walk across the streets of downtown Toronto, the land of immigrants, to understand settler colonialism," she added.

Twitter

In an interview with The Quint, the filmmaker said that Kaali chooses love and champions humanity.

"She embraces people from varied ethnicities, race, and colour while she walks across the streets of downtown Toronto. She shares a cigarette with a street dweller in the park, listening to reggae. She descends upon me, the BIPOC Queer Filmmaker and holds the queer flag and camera in her extraordinarily powerful and equally graceful hands. Now tell me who is hurting whose sentiments?".

After causing a furore, Leena Manimekalai's tweet in which she had shared the poster of Kaali has been taken down by Twitter.

Twitter

Reacting to the uproar, the Toronto-based filmmaker said that she is ready to pay with her life.

"I have nothing to lose. Till the time I live, I wish to live with a voice that speaks what I believe without fear. If the price for that is my life, it can be given," Manimekalai wrote on Twitter.

??? ????????????, ???????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????????? ??? ????????? ??????? ?????????? ???? ????. ???????????????? ¡°arrest leena manimekalai¡± hashtag ????? ¡°love you leena manimekalai¡± hashtag ?????????.?? https://t.co/W6GNp3TG6m

¡ª Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 4, 2022

In another tweet, she wrote, "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".

¡°?????? ?????????? ???????????. ????????? ??? ???????? ???????? ?????????? ?????? ??????? ?????????? ??????????????. ?????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ??????¡± https://t.co/fEU3sWY4HK

¡ª Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 4, 2022

Indian High Commission in Canada had also sought removal of the Kaali poster

In a statement, the High Commission said that they have received complaints from leaders of the Hindu community in Canada about "disrespectful depiction of Hindu Gods on the poster of a film showcased as part of the 'Under the Tent' project at the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto."

Please see a Press Released issued by @HCI_Ottawa @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @PIB_India @DDNewslive @IndiainToronto @cgivancouver pic.twitter.com/DGjQynxYJS

¡ª India in Canada (@HCI_Ottawa) July 4, 2022

"Our Consulate General in Toronto has conveyed these concerns to the organisers of the event," read the statement.

"We are also informed that several Hindu groups have approached authorities in Canada to take action. We urge the Canadian authorities and the event organizers to withdraw all such provocative material," it added.

(For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment, and let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.)