A Mumbai community NGO Friday strongly objected to what it termed a "blasphemous" item number featuring starlet Kavitta Verma, likely to be shown in the forthcoming Bollywood movie "Policegiri".
The NGO, Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), has written to the movie producers and the Censor Board protesting the scantily-clad Kavitta allegedly performing the item number wearing a rosary with its cross positioned on her belly.
"The community is concerned. The rosary which she is shown wearing around her neck has its cross positioned on her belly ," CSF general secretary Joseph Dias told IANS.
Terming this as "totally unacceptable," Dias pointed out that Christians respect the rosary which they use to intercede with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and reflect in prayer on the various stages in the life of Jesus Christ.
He said that the producer of the movie, T.P. Aggarwal, had assured them that the objectionable scenes would not be shown in the movie, due for release July 5.
However, Dias said that in case the producer still goes ahead and depicts the scene, the CSF would initiate criminal proceedings against the makers of the movie.
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Dias further urged the Censor Board to ensure that the offensive scenes were deleted from the movie before giving it clearance for release.
Incidentally, "Policegiri" was among the handful of movies completed by incarcerated Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt before he went to jail to complete his sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case last month.
Dias urged the producers and the government to take necessary steps to remove the promo pictures of the item number from the Internet as it hurts the religious sentiments of the entire Christian community globally.