Kaali Poster Row: MP home minister says ‘will direct police to file FIR’

Amid a huge outrage over a controversial poster of filmmaker Leena Manimekalai’s documentary ‘Kaali’, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Tuesday said he will direct the police to register an FIR in this matter. A massive row has erupted after the Madurai-born filmmaker based in Toronto in Canada shared a poster of ‘Kaali’ on Twitter on Saturday allegedly depicting the goddess disrespectfully. The poster showed the goddess smoking and holding an LGBTQ flag.

Mishra also said that banning the documentary in MP will also be considered. “It is quite objectionable to show our Kali Mata smoking a cigarette in the documentary film ‘Kaali’. I will direct the police to file an FIR in this matter. The banning of the film in Madhya Pradesh will also be considered,” Mishra told reporters.

He said stricter legal action will be taken if the poster of the film is not withdrawn immediately. “Why Manimekalai make a documentary on our gods and goddess? Can she dare to make documentaries on other religions? This is objectionable,” Mishra said. ALSO READ: ‘Kaali’ Poster: Indian High Commission in Canada seeks removal, says ‘Withdraw provocative material’

Notably, the Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh Police have filed separate FIRs against Manimekalai.

Under attack over the film poster, the filmmaker on Monday said she will continue to use her voice fearlessly till she is alive. “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,” she wrote in a tweet in Tamil in response to an article on the controversy. ALSO READ: Who is Leena Manimekalai? Why is her film poster featuring goddess Kaali getting criticised?

She also urged people to watch the film to understand the context behind the poster. “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’,” Leena said.