Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and actor best known for causing controversy with the release of a poster for the film Kaali, which featured a woman playing the goddess Kaali, smoking a cigarette and holding a pride flag.
Wiki/Biography
Leena Manimekalai was born on Saturday, June 7, 1980 in Srivilliputtur, Tamil Nadu (42 years old; as of 2022). Her zodiac sign is Gemini. She attended Holy Cross Convent School in Madurai. She holds a bachelor’s degree in instrumentation and control engineering from Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu, and a master’s degree in fine arts in film production from York University, Canada.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 5″
Weight (approximately): 55kg
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
Body measurements (approximately): 36-26-36
family
Parents and siblings
Lina’s father’s name is Iragupati, a university professor. He died when Lena was a sophomore in college.
Young Leena Manimekalai with her father
Her mother’s name is Rama.
Lena Manimekale and her mother
She has a brother, Elango Raghupathy, who is a film producer.
husband
Her husband’s name is unknown. She is divorced.
sexual orientation
Lena identifies as bisexual.
In 2007, I came out as bisexual in my second book of poetry, Ulagin azhagiya Muthal Penn. HinduMakkalKatchi filed a police complaint seeking a ban. Far left GPS like Vinavu wrote hate articles. In 2013, she continued to publish “Antharakanni”, the first lesbian poetry collection in Tamil. Happy #PRIDE2021 pic.twitter.com/eqjeOUfPO9
—Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) June 2, 2021
religious outlook
According to her Facebook account, she is an atheist.
caste
Lina belongs to the Shudra caste.
@maamallanI am a Shudra by birth and believe in the annihilation of caste and I have not concealed these facts or information of my background anywhere!
—Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) June 8, 2014
Profession
director
Leena made her acting debut in 2003 with the Tamil short film Mathamma.
A clip from Leena Manimekalai’s film ‘Mathamma’ (2003)
She has directed other short films including Breaking the Chains (2004), Lost Love (2004), Wave after Wave (2006), Is It Too Much to Ask (2017) and Madasi 》(2021).
Poster of the movie “Is It Too Much to Ask” (2017)
actor
Leena made her acting debut with the Tamil film Chellamma (2004) in which she played the lead role.
Poster for the movie Chellamma (2004)
She has acted in other films, including The White Cat (2004), Lost Love (2005) and The Dead Sea (2011).
Movie “Sengadal” poster
poet
Her poems include “Like a Lone Leaf” (2003), “The World’s First Beautiful Woman” (2009), “The Slut Queen” (2011), “Antara Kani” (2012) 2016) and Chichili (2016). She revealed her sexual orientation in her second poem, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.” The poem Antara Kani she wrote became the first collection of lesbian poetry in Tamil.
Leena Manimekalai supports the queer community
dispute
Lina sexual harassment incident:
In 2018, Lena sparked controversy when she publicly spoke about the sexual harassment she suffered. In 2018, she took to Facebook to accuse director Suzy Ganesan of harassing her. Suzy replied to her statement saying:
I shudder at your baseless accusations. I have proof that you have a character flaw. You are making these accusations because I did not give you the opportunity to work with me. ”
Hurt Hindu religious sentiments:
In 2022, Lena sparked controversy when she posted the poster of the film Kaali on her Facebook account. The Delhi Police registered an FIR against her after a lawyer complained about controversial posters from her documentary Kaali depicting the goddess smoking. In an interview, police officers discussed the complaint and said:
The complainant attached the alleged photo of Goddess Kali smoking, which was posted by a verified Twitter username Leena Manimekalai. Preliminarily, the content seems to promote hostility between different groups due to religion, race and other reasons, and conduct actions that are not conducive to maintaining harmony and are likely to disturb social peace. ”
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- 2004: Chicago International Film Festival Female Director Award
- 2004: Silver Award for Best Documentary at European Film Festival
- 2005: Best Actor and Best Experimental Film at the Independent Art Film Festival
- 2005: Best Documentary at Paris and Norway Independent Diaspora Festival
- 2005: EU Media Conflict Resolution Fellowship
- 2005: Retrospective, International Democratic Socialist Youth Film Festival, Venezuela
- 2006: Malaysia Asian Film Festival International Jury
- 2007: Jury Prize for Best Resistance Film
- 2008: Mumbai International Film Festival Golden Conch Award for Best International Documentary
- 2008: Visiting Scholar Scholarship, Berlin Film Festival
- 2008: Billion Eyes National Award – Best Documentary
- 2008: Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Scheme, Bird’s Eye Film Festival, London
- 2008: Ulakin Azhakiya Muthal Penn won the Iyal Award for Best Poetry from the Tamil Literary Garden
- 2011: Awarded the Sirpi Literary Award for contribution to Tamil poetry
- 2011: Sengadal Panoramic Selection of India
- 2011: Won NAWFF Best Asian Female Film Award (Tokyo) for the film “Sengadal”
- 2013: Tamizh Studio Lenin Prize
- 2014: Srishti Tamil Ramda Prize for Literature, for her book Antharakanni
- 2015: L’Oréal Paris Women of Women Awards
- 2020: The film “Maadathy, an Unfairy Tale” wins the AIFF Award (2019)
Facts/Trivia
- Her friends and family affectionately call her ‘Karuvachi’.
- Lena follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- According to her Facebook account, she follows post-political ideologies.
- As a child, she often watched movies in the village with her father.
Leena Manimekalai with her father as a child
- According to her, there is a custom in her village that a daughter must marry her uncle when she turns eighteen. Lena’s family made the same decision, and when she turned eighteen, they arranged a wedding for her and her uncle.
- In an interview, she said that she did not want to marry her uncle, and for this reason, she began to get good grades in classes, even though she did not like studying. She did this so that her parents could continue her studies instead of getting married, but her parents did not change their minds and decided to hold her wedding to her uncle.
- After hearing their decision, Lena fled the village and reached Chennai, where she started looking for work. She went to a Tamil magazine office in Chennai for an interview, and the magazine called her family and handed her over to them. When she returned home, she told her family that she wanted to study engineering and did not want to marry her uncle. In her junior year of college, she assisted director Bharathiraja and learned about cinema from him.
Teenage Leena Manimekalai
- When she was working with director Bharathiraja, the media started reporting on her affair with a married actor. Her family was affected by the rumor and subsequently asked her to return home. Talking about the same in an interview, she said,
My mother went on hunger strike. I initially refused to give in, but her health deteriorated and I had to give up the film and Balaraja. “
- Leena returned home and started working in an IT company. According to her, she changed jobs eleven times in two years because she always wanted to direct movies instead of working in an IT company.
- In 2002, she began making money through freelancing and used the money to direct films that received international acclaim.
Leena Manimekalai while filming the movie
- In 2017, she decided to make an independent film about Kamala Das. She said in an interview that producer Kamal had promised her to star in the English version of the film, but it was not made as Vidya Balan quit the Malayalam version of the film Movie. In an interview, she spoke about this and said:
Kamal, a veteran filmmaker, may have his own reasons. But what bothered me was that after discussing the script and other details, he couldn’t deliver on his promise. So I decided to go ahead and direct an independent film about Kamala Das. I want to focus on the films I left behind three years ago. Only independent expression can place the soul of the poet above market interests. “
- In 2018, her passport was confiscated by the High Court after she filed harassment proceedings against director Suzy. In an interview, she talked about the same thing, saying:
I do not understand the basis for the adverse police verification report. If exact details are provided, I will be better able to give an appropriate response. “
- According to her, she didn’t cast any actors in her films because they were afraid of working on the subject matter she worked on.
- She said her film “Sengadal” (Dead Sea) tells the story of fishermen caught on the Sri Lankan border. In an interview, she discussed her reasons for directing the film, saying:
As I come from a communist political family, I was directly or indirectly involved in the Sri Lankan crisis in my youth. I was part of a group involved in the anti-war movement and India’s stance on the war. “
Movie “Sengadal” poster
- In 2022, the poster of her film Kaali created controversy. Amid the controversy, a priest threatened Lena to behead her if her film Kali was released.
Movie “Kali” poster
- When she was in school, she loved doing Bharatnatyam dance.
Leena Manimekalai practices Bharatnatyam dance in school
- She appears frequently in various newspapers.
Leena Manimekalai in the newspapers
- She is often spotted smoking on different occasions.
Like smoke, like a tray, like colors, like rings, like dust, like days, like life! pic.twitter.com/zMs51kUjON
—Leena Manimekalai (@LeenaManimekali) May 9, 2014
- She is a passionate animal lover and often posts photos of animals on social media.
Leena Manimekalai plays with goats
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education