A member of the censor board that cleared Julie , the movie in the eye of a storm in Chhattisgarh for its allegedly explicit scenes, believes it has the potential to be nominated for an Oscar.

Responding to protests against the Neha Dhupia-starrer, Dilip Banerjee, member of the Central Board of Film Certification, on Tuesday said the movie "is based on a solid theme and has the potential of being nominated for an Oscar award".

Talking to reporters here, Banerjee advised Hindu Raksha Manch activists, who stormed a theatre screening the movie directed by Deepak Shivdasani here on Saturday, to give up their protests as the film did not contain "sex masala" or scenes "infected with Western culture".

"I have seen Julie in the wake of protests. There is nothing wrong with any scene or the role of the actress. In my opinion, the film is fit to be nominated for an Oscar," he said.

He rejected complaints from Hindu hardliners that the movie was loaded with erotic and vulgar scenes.

"The movie has been allowed to be screened with an 'A' symbol (adult certification), but I found that the theatre owner here had not either been showing the 'A' symbol during the movie's screening or on the posters which have confused certain organisations and stoked protests," Banerjee said.