Acting on protests by Christian leaders, the minority commission Wednesday asked Information and Broadcasting Minister S. Jaipal Reddy to stop the screening of "Sins", a movie depicting the sexual escapades of a priest.

In a letter to the minister, National Commission for Minorities (NCM) chief Tarlochan Singh asked the screening of the film be stalled until the Central Board of Film Certification, or censor board, and the ministry reviewed it with respect to objections by the Christian community.

Singh said he had received a complaint from the Archbishop of Delhi, Vincent M. Concessao, about Vinod Pande's film that is to be released soon.

"It has been mentioned that this film hurts the sentiments of the Christian minority community. Similar complaints have been coming to us against many serials and films from the minority communities," Singh wrote.

He said he would meet censor board chief Sharmila Tagore on this matter, recalling that in a meeting three years back, the then chairman of the board had assured that all sensitive parts would be deleted from the film.

"We request you to stop the release of the film for a few days and get it examined at your level in order to satisfy the sentiments of the Christian minority community," said Singh.

Catholics Wednesday staged protests in Mumbai against the film, which allegedly depicts a priest's sexual relationship with a lover half his age.

"Sins" portrays the community in poor light, the Catholics said, calling for a ban on the film.

The 100 protestors then burnt an effigy of Vinod Pande in suburban Mumbai.

"The so-called fictional sexual escapades of a Catholic priest shown in the film are bound to hurt the sentiments of the Christian community. There appears to be a fine dividing line between pornography, truth and fiction," said Nicholas Almeida, who led the protest march.

Another body, the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), has threatened to stage a stir at all theatres screening the film if it is not banned.