Treading uncharted territory, the social service wing of the Delhi Catholic Church is producing a full-fledged Hindi feature film, with all the ingredients of a typical Bollywood blockbuster, including a very hot item number.

Aisa Kyun Hota Hain, slated to hit theatres in October 2005, is possibly the first feature film produced by the church worldwide.

"As far as I know, this is the first film produced by the church anywhere in the world," Fr Dominic Emmanuel, spokesman of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese (DCA) said.

The film is being produced by Chetanalaya, the social service wing of the DCA, with the active support of city Archbishop Rev Vincent Concessao.

Starring Aryan Vaid and Rati Agnihotri in pivotal roles, the film explores relationships at three levels - that of mother and son, husband and wife and friendship.

"In the film, Rati plays a single mother who brings up son Aryan after her husband abandons her. It also explores Aryan's life in college," says Fr Emmanuel.

Those looking for comic relief need not be disappointed - comedy king Johnny Lever is doing a cameo as a Sikh basketball coach. DCA did try to rope in superstar Shahrukh Khan but it didn't work out.

With a budget of just Rs 1.3 crore and lacking saleable names, the film may find it difficult to compete with big- budget multi-starrers, but Fr Emmanuel is keeping his fingers crossed.

"The presence of Shahrukh or Aishwarya may not necessarily ensure a hit. Even a big budget film like Kisna flopped proving that there is no fixed formula for success," he says. "No one predicted that a low-budget film like Page 3 would work."

"This is an experiment that could open up various possibilities. We are not looking at the profit angle, rather it's an attempt to portray positive values in the world," he adds.

And for this noble cause, the DCA did receive a lot of help. The money was raised with help from various organisations within the church. Johnny Lever offered his services free of cost, while Mahesh Bhatt helped with creative inputs as also infrastructure.

To save money, Fr Emmaunel also volunteered to enact the role of the college principal in the film.

Moreover, Christian institutes in Mumbai didn't charge a penny for the locations. "For example, we availed of the premises of Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri where a number of Bollywood films have been shot," says Fr Emmanuel.

A media man who has previously worked with BBC London and Radio Philippines, Fr Emmanuel does seem to know what he's getting into. Scripted by Fr Emmanuel and directed by debutant Ajay Kanchan, the film boasts of five songs, including the mandatory item number - Ishq Dhamaka - which is set in the college campus.

With a major chunk of the shooting wrapped up in Mumbai and Daman in just 37 days, the film is well on its way to completion. Is the DCA expecting any brickbats due to the 'Produced by Church' tag?

"People don't need a pretext to create trouble. There was a hue and cry raised even over the Pope's visit to India in 1999," says Fr Emmanuel. "But I don't think they can find anything wrong with the film. It is about communal harmony - the film even has a Buddhist character."

What about more church-funded projects in the future?

"Nothing else is in the pipeline right now. Right now, we are waiting to find out how the audience responds to it and of course, how other churches in India react to it," he says.