Author and filmmaker Leena Manimekalai recently came under fire and faced social media backlash after sharing the poster of her upcoming performance documentary film Kaali. For those unversed, the poster stirred controversy as it depicted a woman dressed as the Hindu Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette while carrying a trident in one hand and holding a pride flag aka the rainbow flag in support of the LGBT community. She was accused of deliberately hurting the Hindu sentiments after the poster went viral on social media.

Enraged netizens were left fuming and demanded strict action to be taken against her. They have even started trending the hashtag #ArrestLeenaManimekalai all over social media. Earlier today, she took to her Twitter handle to publicly address this controversy. She reacted to the news and issued a statement in Tamil. She mentioned her film revolves around the events that take place one evening when Kali appears and strolls the streets of Toronto. She also said that if we watch the movie, instead of putting the hashtag 'arrest Leena manimekalai', people will instead use the hashtag 'love you Leena manimekalai'. Check it out:

ஒரு மாலைப்பொழுது, டோரோண்டோ மாநகரத்தில காளி தோன்றி வீதிகளில் உலா வரும்போது நடக்கிற சம்பவங்கள் தான் படம். படத்தைப்பார்த்தா “arrest leena manimekalai” hashtag போடாம “love you leena manimekalai” hashtag போடுவாங்க.✊🏽 https://t.co/W6GNp3TG6m

— Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) July 4, 2022

Her attempt at clarifying this misunderstanding did not go very well as netizens are now furious about her answer pertaining to this issue. They are not happy about the fact that instead of accepting her mistake and owning up to her action, Leena is telling people that they will support her choices.

Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet, and actor. Her works consist of five published poetry anthologies and a dozen films in genres including documentary, fiction, and experimental poem films. She has been recognized with participation, mentions, and best film awards in many international and national film festivals. Leena's most recent project was her feature film Maadathy, also known internationally as Maadathy: An Unfairy Tale which opened to positive reviews.