Mumbai Catholics protest ‘objectionable’ scenes in movie

(September 24, 2012) Catholics in Mumbai, India, have threatened to stop the screening of a Bollywood movie if certain scenes making a "disresptful portrayal" of the community and its priests are not deleted. "Bollywood has hit a new low by showing the priest in such bad light.," said Joseph Dias of the Catholic Secular Forum in reference to the movie “Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal” directed by Priyadarshan, scheduled for release on September 28. A delegation of representatives of Catholic groups and a priest representing the Bombay Archdiocese submitted a memorandum to Leela Samson, chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification Sept 22 in this regard. Copies of the memorandum highlighting the community's grievances have also been sent to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and censor board head Pankaja Thakur, said Judith Monteiro, secretary of Association of Concerned Catholics. "We have registered our protest against the movie. We have demanded a special screening of the movie urgently and deletion of objectionable scenes based on a review by the Catholic community representatives," Monteiro said.
Demanding a special screening of the movie, Monteiro listed out some of the objectionable scenes which have hurt the community's sentiments. These include a Catholic priest dancing with a rosary around his neck and wearing a garland of lottery tickets with a church in the background. The movie also shows the lead actor misusing and indiscriminately using the Holy Water Sprinkler, a priest with a bouquet of flowers with an 'I Love You' message among others.