Exclusive: Sofia Hayat criticises director Leena Manimekalai's poster of Kali Maa smoking; says ‘The Goddess will never want us to be unhealthy’

The recent tweet of filmmaker Leena Manimekalai releasing the poster of the film 'Kaali' was removed by the microblogging site. The poster of her film depicted a woman dressed in a costume portraying the goddess and smoking.
Sofia Hayat, who has embraced spirituality and become a nun, reacted to the poster and called it the filmmaker’s lifestyle that’s portrayed in the poster.
Speaking to ETimes TV, Sofia shared, “Regarding Maa Kali, I have seen her and she is in me. Maa Kali does not smoke. She looks after her body and Maa Kali wants us all to look after our body. To put a cigarette in Maa Kali’s mouth is saying that she doesn’t care about her health or the health of the children of this planet. It is wrong. She wants us to be healthy.”
The poster also had an LGBTQ flag. Speaking further, Sofia said, “The other thing with the LGBTQ community, why will you promote Maa Kali with the community? She accepts all her children as they are. Sexuality doesn’t come into play when there is religion. Maa Kali is not a religion. She is an energy that exists within everybody. With the artist showing that Kali Maa is supporting, it’s depicting discrimination. This particular artist needs herself to remove discrimination from her own mind. Discrimination exists because of people like her. Kali Maa doesn’t discriminate. She is strong. This artist can’t hurt religious sentiments. We should just ignore her. Kali Maa is greater than that. So people, who are offended by her, need to rise above her and not give her the attention she is seeking. As a Goddess, Kali Maa is not interested in what this woman is saying. The higher mind would understand that Maa Kali doesn’t smoke, she wants us to be healthy. The artist is only portraying her own discrimination within herself and her unhealthy lifestyle.”