KAALI: A sensitive movie poster caused outrage in India

India is outraged over a movie poster showing a lady costumed as the Hindu deity Kali smoking a cigarette.

On Saturday, director Leena Manimekalai tweeted the movie’s poster, describing Kaali as a “performance documentary.”

Since then, it has sparked hundreds of comments from incensed Hindus accusing her of hurting their sacred sensitivity.

Millions of Hindus worship the goddess of destruction known as Kali.

The Indian High Commission in Canada said on Monday night that it had requested the event’s organizers to remove the “provocative” poster of Ms. Manimekalai’s movie.

It continued by saying that it had also given the organizers “complaints from leaders of the Hindu community in Canada.”

Ms. Manimekalai’s name had earlier in the day trended on Indian social media as many people demanded her arrest.

The Canadian-born filmmaker told the BBC that the deity she portrays in her movie “champions mankind and embraces diversity.”

“As a poet and filmmaker, I embody Kali in my own independent vision,” she said.

In India, depicting religious figures on cinema is a sensitive subject. Hindu goddess images were depicted in the Bollywood film Angry Indian Goddesses in 2015, however the country’s censor board insisted on censoring the sensitive content.

Muslims have lately staged large-scale protests in India in response to remarks made by a politician against the Prophet Muhammad. Two Muslim males were detained by authorities last week in the state of Rajasthan, allegedly killing a Hindu man in revenge for their comments.

A number of Twitter users demanded legal action against the director, claiming the goddess’ image on the poster was offensive to Hinduism.

Some people demanded that all religious sentiments be honored.