Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet, and actor who is known for being accused of hurting Hindu sentiments through the poster of the film Kaali in which a woman was shown smoking cigarettes and hosting the pride flag.When she was a child, she used to attend film screenings with her father. Leena Manimekalai with her father as a child.When she was eighteen years old, her family decided to get her married to her maternal uncle. In an interview, she said that she did not like studying, but she became the class topper so that she could ask her parents to study further and get away from her village custom of girls marrying their maternal uncle after reaching puberty. Leena Manimekalai in her teenage.Her parents did not agree to this, because of which, she left her village and went to Chennai. After running away from home, she went to a Tamil magazine office to get a job in Chennai, but she was tricked by them after the staff contacted her family and handed her to them. She went home but refused to marry her uncle and told her family that she wanted to pursue engineering. When she was in the third year of college, she met director Bharathiraja, and she decided to assist him.While working in films, many newspapers and magazines started printing about her relationship rumours with an actor who was already married. Her mother got angry about this incident and asked Leena to come back home. In an interview, Leena talked about this and said, My mother went on a hunger strike. I initially refused to give in, but her health deteriorated, and I had to give up cinema and Bharathiraja..After coming back home, she worked in IT firms as an engineer, but she always wanted to do cinema. In an interview, she said that she changed eleven jobs in two years because she could not concentrate on one job.In 2002, she decided to listen to her heart and start directing films. She used to freelance to earn money and made films with that money. She directed many short films and feature films that gained international prominence. Leena Manimekalai on the sets of shooting.In 2017, she announced that she would direct an independent film on Kamala Das after producer Kamal made a biopic on him. She said that Kamal wanted her to act in the English version of the film, and he had roped Vidya Balan for the Malayalam version. He discussed the script with Leena, but when Vidya Balan left the film, Kamal could not keep his promise and dropped the idea of making the English version of the film. In an interview, she talked about this and said, Kamal is a senior filmmaker and he might have his own reasons. But what bothered me is that after discussing the script and other details, he couldnt keep his word. So Ive decided to go ahead and direct an independent film on Kamala Das. I would like to focus on the film I left behind three years ago. Only an independent expression can place a poets soul ahead of market interests..In 2018, after she filed a harassment case against director Susi, her passport was confiscated by High court. In an interview, she talked about this and said, I am not aware of the basis on which the police have provided an adverse police verification report. If the exact details are provided, I will be in a much better position to give a suitable reply for the same..She has directed films that are based on women empowerment, caste discrimination, LGBTQ rights and other social causes in society. She has directed short films that include Parai (2004), Connecting Lines (2005), Goddesses (2008), Sengadal (2011), and White Van Stories (2013). Poster of the movie Sengadal.