Christian groups in India on Monday demanded a ban on a Bollywood movie depicting a sexual relationship between a Catholic priest and a woman half his age, saying it hurt their sentiments. The Hindi-language film, called Sins, is set for release on Friday. "Religion needs to be a personal affair and should not be a subject for entertainment or for commercial use," Joseph Dias, general secretary of Catholic Secular Forum, said in a statement.

He said Christians would demonstrate in front of cinemas planning to screen the film and various Catholic groups had begun collecting signatures to support demands for the ban.

Director Vinod Pande said the film was not intended to hurt anybody's sentiments.

"It's about a forbidden love. There was no agenda whatsoever to hurt anyone," he said.

Christians make up just about 2 percent of India's more than 1 billion people. Hindus make up about 80 percent and Muslims 13 percent.

Copyright Reuters, 2005