Indo-Canadian director Lina Manimikalay has received a slew of death threats from Indian nationalists, after portraying in her new film the sacred Hindu character Kali smoking a cigarette with a homosexual flag on her poster.

Indian politicians and officials accused the director of offending the religious feelings of Indians through the poster of the short film, which was shown among 18 films at the University of Toronto's "Under The Tent" festival at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

Manimikalay told CNN that the documentary depicts the Hindu goddess "Kali" as having appeared to a gay filmmaker to tell her about diversity in Canada.

The image that the promotional poster carried and caused the crisis (communication sites)

The promotional poster for the film shows the director dressed as Cali smoking and the homosexuality flag flying high.

Lena Manimikalay - who was born in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is currently a graduate fellow at York University in Toronto - shared the poster on Twitter and it spread widely, sparking angry reactions from Indian social media users, as many of them called to arrest her.

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

Within days, tens of thousands of tweets appeared with the hashtag calling for the director's arrest.

Indian Commission

The Indian High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, participated in the campaign, urging - in a statement - the country's authorities to "take action" against what it described as "disrespectful filming."

Then, after showing excerpts from the film over the weekend, the Aga Khan Museum announced that Manimikalay's work was "no longer shown".

"We deeply apologize that one of the 18 short videos and the accompanying post on social media has inadvertently offended Hindu adherents," the museum said in its statement.

The University of Toronto expressed its "regret" that it "caused the offense," adding in a statement, "We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion while respecting the diversity of beliefs and viewpoints in our community."

The controversy continued throughout the week in the television debates, with critics arguing that Manimical's portrayal "disgraced a sacred figure".

Parliamentarians in India also had their say, with Vineet Goenka, a spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, describing the photo as an "insult to all Indians".

India-born Canadian politician Chandra Arya also expressed concern, writing on Twitter that seeing the poster was "painful".

Giant statue of Hindu goddess Kali at an Indian temple in Kadalore, Tamil Nadu (Getty Images)

torrent of insults

The filmmaker received an angry response online from what she described as a "mercenary army" from BJP supporters and right-wing nationalists.

She said her film crew members have had a meltdown, while her family and friends are receiving online abuse.

Manimicali noted that she has been threatened with death from thousands of social media accounts.

In Uttar Pradesh, Hindu religious leader Mahant Raju Das posted a video threatening the filmmaker with beheading.

The Times of India reported that police in Tamil Nadu had arrested a woman over another video clip containing threats against the filmmaker.