Creativity up in smoke?; artistes give their take on the Kaali controversy
Mona
Leena Manimekalai’s Kaali row got another twist on Thursday morning. The Toronto-based filmmaker posted a photograph of two persons dressed as Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati smoking on a road. For the unversed, the controversy began last week when the actor-director shared a poster that showed a woman dressed as Goddess Kaali and smoking on social media. A flag representing the LGBTQI+ made it to the background. This was for the launch of her film Kaali at the Aga Khan Museum for the Rhythms of Canada festival at Toronto. The poster was called out for hurting religious sentiments of the Hindus. Multiple police complaints were filed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, Ratlam and other places.
The Indian High Commission requested Canadian authorities to withdraw the poster. The Toronto-based Aga Khan Museum expressed regret while taking down the poster. “The museum deeply regrets that one of the 18 short videos from Under the Tent and its accompanying social media post have inadvertently caused offence to members of the Hindu and other faith communities,” read its statement.
Manimekalai’s tweet accompanying the poster was removed by Twitter as well. Meanwhile, the filmmaker alleged that she, her family and collaborators have received threats from more than 2,00,000 accounts online. Self restraint versus creative liberty, we ask artistes and filmmakers on how to walk this tightrope.
Not at the cost of unrest
Award winning filmmaker Rahul Mittra says, “Whilst I am all for creative liberty in order to show the reality but not at the cost of unrest. I don’t believe in showing unnecessary nudity, engaging in blasphemy or using cuss words just to evoke controversy or hurting religious sentiments. We filmmakers should feel confident about the content we create and it should have the capability of entertaining the audiences without giving it a religious spin.” As for his journey, Mittra adds, “I have steered clear of any such move in my films and condemn disrespectful depiction of Gods in cinema.”
However, this is not the first time that such a controversy has happened. Before this Brahmastra, Laxmmi, Tandav, Padmavat, PK and A Suitable Boy – different films and shows have come on the radar for hurting religious sentiments.
Why target Gods?
In a world ever so sensitive, how does one navigate? “In my view any misrepresentation of Gods is totally unacceptable and why always target Hindu Gods?” asks singer Uvie. “In the name of creativity why target Gods? It means the director is not confident of the art and is depending upon the controversy to gain popularity,” he says. “I feel it is alright to show mythological figures in different forms of art as long as it is not hurting the sentiments of people or a particular community. As long as imagination and creativity are not crossing the line, we are good,” says Gauri Minocha.
Merely an image
Film director, writer and producer Madhureeta Anand stands for an artiste’s vision. “Life is the source of inspiration for everything that filmmakers, writers and artists do. And since Gods are such a predominant part of all cultures worldwide, it is absolutely impossible to keep them out. Again and again artistes have invoked the image of Jesus and all characters from the Bible in various ways and not all of them reverential. This has, in fact, led to all of us learning about Christianity more than anything else,” she points out.
“The fact is that when talking about Gods or Goddesses it is merely their image that they are using to create. So, why should one be offended? It’s not really Kaali there you know. And even raising the point of restraint is antithetical to how art works. Restraint is the last thing anyone should use while creating art otherwise it wouldn’t really be art now would it? Can one imagine Mira Bai sitting and thinking about restraint while talking about Krishna as her beloved? However, time and again people have been forced to censor or hide what they actually want to say due to the fear of backlash. This is a loss and extremely sad for the society where this happens,” she puts.
Who is Leena Manimekalai?
Manimekalai’s Twitter bio reads her as a ‘Poet, Film Maker, MFA (Film) GFAD Fellow – YorkU, Toronto’. Born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, she started as a filmmaker in 2002 with docu-fiction Mathamma which reportedly deals with the Arundhatiyar community in Mangattucheri, Tamil Nadu.
Her subsequent works deal with issues of the marginalised. Sengadal, 2011 talks of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka. Currently, Manimekalai is finishing her second year of a master’s degree in film at York University in Toronto. Through this uproar, Manimekalai has stood by her stance, “These trolls are after my artistic freedom. If I give away my freedom fearing this mindless rightwing mob mafia, I will give away everyone’s freedom. So, I will keep it, come what may,” she shared a tweet by author Mira Kamdar on Thursday.
Furore in frames
- Khuda Haafiz: Chapter 2- Agni Pariksha’s song Haq Hussain was changed to Junoon Hai after the Shia community raised objections about the lyrics.
- Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s trilogy film Brahmastra’s trailer sparked a controversy as it shows the hero entering a temple with shoes on. Director Ayan Mukerji clarified on Twitter that Ranbir was entering a Durga Puja pandal and assured shoes are taken off only before the idol not whilst entering it.
- Tandav, starting Saif Ali Khan, was in the headlines for the wrong reasons as it featured Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub as Lord Shiva mouthing lines about ‘azaadi. The scene from the first episode allegedly provoked communal disharmony.
- Mira Nair’s directorial, A Suitable Boy, was put to test by The All-India Shia Personal Law Board as they sent a legal notice to makers and Netflix for showing desecration of a tazia and dishonouring it. It was followed by other FIRs alleging love jihad with a Hindu girl kissing a Muslim boy in a temple.
— With inputs from agencies.
