Kaali row: Delhi court issues summons to filmmaker Leena Manimekalai

New Delhi, July 11: A local court in Delhi on Monday issued summons and notice of injunction to Kaali filmmaker Leena Manimekalai on a suit seeking to restrain her from depicting Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette.

Additional Senior Civil Judge Abhishek Kumar directed Manimekalai to appear before the court on 6 August, saying she needed to be heard before passing any order.

Undersigned (judge) is of the opinion that the defendant needs to be heard before passing any order against them. Therefore, issue summons of the suit and notice of the injunction application, the judge said.

The petition seeking a permanent and mandatory injunction against the filmmaker alleged that the accused depicted the Hindu goddess in a very uncalled way in the poster and promo video of their upcoming Movie Kaali.

Further, the poster of the film depicts Hindu goddess Kali smoking cigarette which not only hurts the religious sentiments of common Hindu but is also against basics of morality and decency, it claimed.

The plea added that the poster was tweeted by Manimekalai from her Twitter handle.

The plea, filed by Raj Gaurav, also sought an interim injunction to restrain Manimekalai temporarily from depicting goddesses in the way they have been depicted in the poster and video, and the tweet.

At the centre of a huge storm over her documentary 'Kaali', Leena Manimekalai has said she does not feel safe "anywhere at this moment".

"It feels like the whole nation - that has now deteriorated from the largest democracy to the largest hate machine - wants to censor me. I do not feel safe anywhere at this moment," Manimekalai wrote while tagging The Guardian and sharing an interview she has given to the British newspaper.

The filmmaker is facing several FIRs following outrage over the poster of 'Kaali' showing the goddess smoking and holding an LGBTQ flag.