Filmmaker Leena Manimekalai pens emotional note on grandmother's demise

Director Leena Manimekalai, whose new film’s poster sparked controversy last month shared the news of her grandmother’s demise on Facebook and how she couldn’t see her recently in wake of cases filed against her.

The filmmaker is currently residing in Canada’s Toronto. In her Facebook post, she said she is a “criminal” in eyes of the Government of India.

Also Read: I am not safe anywhere at this moment: Leena Manimekalai

“Avva, my grandmother Rajeswari, stopped breathing. I don’t understand why I am alive when I can’t even kiss her a farewell. I am stuck in Toronto because I am a “criminal” according to the Indian Government which has booked me in nine FIRs and issued a “look out circular” to arrest me at the airport itself- all for a film poster,” the filmmaker said.

Remembering her grandmother’s last words, she recalled her telling her mother that Leena would win all cases. The director shared how her grandmother had whispered “love you, muah” in her last video call.

The filmmaker ended her message by saying: “We can be defeated but not be destroyed.”

Manimekalai’s tweet on July 3 generated extreme responses from infuriated Hindus who accused her of hurting their religious sentiments.

Also Read: ‘India is sinking into dark hole of hate and bigotry’: Leena Manimekalai on Kali row

The director had tweeted the poster from her new documentary depicting a woman dressed as Hindu Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette with a pride flag in the background.

In a complaint to the Delhi Police and the Home Ministry, Ajay Gautam, who heads the ‘Gau Mahasabha’, called for an FIR against the filmmaker and a ban on her documentary stating that it hurts religious sentiments.

Two separate FIRs had been registered against Manimekalai in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Two additional cases were filed against her in Bhopal and Ratlam.

As users slammed the poster, the hashtag #ArrestLeenaManimekal trended on Twitter. Many said that this must not be tolerated in the name of freedom of expression and demanded strict action against the filmmaker.

Recently, a Delhi court has summoned filmmaker Leena Manimekalai on a plea seeking an injunction against her upcoming movie Kaali for allegedly depicting Hindu goddess in an uncalled way in its posters and promotional videos.

Also Read: Leena Manimekalai summoned by Delhi court for Kaali film poster

Twitter also pulled down the filmmaker’s tweet about her documentary.

Since the controversy began, Manimekalai, her family and collaborators have received threats from more than 200,000 accounts online, she said.

In an interview with The Federal, Manimekalai who is in Toronto where she is pursuing her master’s in fine arts in film at York University, said: “The current Hindu fundamentalist fascist regime has erased all the rich legacy of democracy, diversity and pluralism of this country. These bigots have nothing to do with faith. They are dividing the people in the name of religion and cashing on hate.”