Uttar Pradesh Police lodges FIR against filmmaker over 'Kaali' poster

LUCKNOW: An FIR was registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow against Indian documentary filmmaker Leena Manimekalai for a poster in her new film ‘Kaali’ where a woman dressed as the Hindu deity is seen smoking.
The FIR lodged on the basis of a complaint by advocate Ved Prakash Shukla states that the poster of the movie ‘Kaali’ released on social media has hurt religious sentiments of a particular faith.
Others named in the FIR include film editor Shrawan Onachan and producer Asha Associates.
The three were under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections 66 and 67 of the Information Technology(IT) Act, police added.
In his complaint, Shukla, who is a civil court lawyer, said that he spotted the objectionable photo of the Hindu deity on social media on July 4. “Locals and those on Twitter were infuriated over the poster of the movie vitiating the atmosphere and leading to riot-like situation,” he claimed.
In the complaint, Shukla said that Hindu goddess Kaali is revered by all, but “she is shown smoking, which is hurting the religious feelings of a large faith”.
Lucknow police commissioner DK Thakur said the FIR has been registered and the probe is on.
The Madurai-born Toronto-based director shared the poster of ‘Kaali’ on social media platforms on June 2 in which a woman in Goddess Kaali’s attire can be seen smoking a cigarette. In the background, she can also be seen holding the pride flag of the LGBTQ community.
In her tweet, she said the poster was released at the Canada Film Festival.
She has also been booked for hurting the religious sentiments in New Delhi, while complaints against her have also been received in other parts of the country.
A senior Delhi Police officer said on Tuesday that from the contents of a complaint and the social media post, prima facie an offence under sections 153A and 295A of the IPC was made out and a case registered against Manimekalai at the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) unit of the Special Cell.
Under attack over the film poster, Manimekalai on Monday said she will continue to use her voice fearlessly till she is alive. The filmmaker also urged people to watch the documentary to understand the context behind the poster.