- A Bollywood “priest sex movie” – in which a Catholic clergyman has an affair with a younger woman – has infuriated India’s Catholic radicals. Meanwhile, a screen kiss in another Bollywood release has gotten Pakistani actress Meera in trouble with local authorities.
Vinod Pande’s Catholic priest sex drama Sins has led to another round of Bollywood vs. religious censorship
Pakistani actress Meera has been mired in controversy in her native (Muslim) country for having kissed Indian actor Ashmit Patel in Soni Razdan’s supernatural Bollywood thriller Nazar. (See further below.) Joining her in the “Bollywood vs. religious radicals” fight is filmmaker Vinod Pande, whose priest sex drama Sins has outraged some Indian Catholic groups.
In all fairness, there seems to be more than just priest sex titillation to the tortuous central relationship in Pande’s psychological/romantic drama. Featuring both English-language dialogue and topless scenes, Sins chronicles the evolution of the affair – and increasingly warped balance of power – between a handsome Roman Catholic clergyman (Shiney Ahuja) and a naive, beautiful, and much younger woman (Seema Rahmani).
India’s enraged Catholics apparently refuse to allow the portrayal of members of the clergy in a less-than-beatific light. They had at first demanded that Sins be banned – and, following its Feb. 25 release, that it be withdrawn from circulation – but Pande has decided to keep his movie out there.
‘Isn’t this fascism’?
In an interview at Rediff, the director complained:
“Isn’t this fascism? Such intolerance for creative work is not acceptable. …
“I am responsible only to my producers. I hate to point this out, but haven’t people seen my earlier work? A boy-meets-girl story has never interested me. In my first film, Ek Baar Phir [Once Again, 1980], three decades ago [sic], the wife walked out on her husband without apology. My films are always about the pain and ecstasy of forbidden love. But I have never gone beyond my aesthetic boundaries.”
Religion as ‘personal affair’
Whether or not taking into account Sins’ aesthetic boundaries or lack thereof, the general secretary of India’s Catholic Secular Forum affirms that “religion needs to be a personal affair and should not be a subject for entertainment or for commercial use.”
If so, wouldn’t that mean “entertainment” and “commercial” fare like Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, Mel Gibson’s controversial sleeper hit The Passion of the Christ, and Cecil B. DeMille’s The King of Kings and The Ten Commandments should also be banned?
Big-screen priest sex
Some have noticed similarities between Shiney Ahuja’s Catholic priest and the one Gael García Bernal plays in The Crime of Father Amaro (2002), Carlos Carrera’s Academy Award-nominated Mexican drama featuring Ana Claudia Talancón as the teenage object of the young padre’s affection.
Both Carrera’s film and Sins also have elements in common with Antonio Capuano’s Pianese Nunzio, Fourteen in May (1996), in which a Neapolitan priest and social crusader (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) has a sexual relationship with an adolescent male (Emanuele Gargiulo).
As found in the Rediff interview, Vinod Pande says Sins was inspired by a 1998 newspaper report about a priest sentenced to death, adding that he later learned of “several incidents of priests in taboo relationships.”
Pakistani model-actress Meera fined after kissing costar Ashmit Patel in Soni Razdan’s supernatural Bollywood thriller Nazar
Popular Pakistani model and actress Meera, 27, has been burdened with a “heavy fine,” courtesy of Pakistan’s Ministry of Culture.
The reason for the stern ruling?
Meera, whose previous credits include the romantic dramas Inteha (1999) and Salakhain (2004), kisses her Indian costar Ashmit Patel in Soni Razdan’s supernatural Bollywood musical thriller Nazar (“Sight”), which, like Irvin Kershner’s Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), features clairvoyance, romance, and murders – in addition to, judging by the publicity images, quite a bit of steamy sensuality.
Offense to Islamic values and (alleged) target of ‘extremists’
Variety reports that Pakistan’s powers-that-be have deemed the Nazar kissing scene offensive to “Islamic ethics and moral values.” So much so, that the Pakistani government is supposedly considering a ban on Pakistani actors from working in Indian films.
And that’s not all, as far as Meera is concerned.
As per the BBC, she has asked for government protection “from extremists here who have threatened my life” as a consequence of the Nazar kiss. Some, however, have asserted that her statement is just a publicity gimmick.
Bollywood ban
Widespread bootlegged copies aside, Nazar will probably not be released in Pakistan, as Indian films have been banned in that country since the 1965 India-Pakistan War. (Some sources have the ban on Indian films being instituted in 1962. Update: Pakistan lifted the ban on Indian films in 2006.)
All appearances to the contrary, rumors that the United States’ prudish Federal Communications Commission has been taking lessons from Pakistan’s religious censors seem to be unfounded.
Contentious Peace Award
July 2005 update: According to the Hindustan Times, following the Nazar kiss to-do Meera found herself enmeshed in one more imbroglio, this time for receiving a Peace Award from Pakistan Film Censor Board Chairman Ziauddin.
Go figure.
Those who thought that Meera’s controversial appearance in the supernatural Bollywood thriller didn’t merit a peace award have accused the chairman of favoritism.
Lastly, Pakistan’s Ministry of Culture has denied having taken any action against the smooching actress.
“Bollywood Priest Sex Movie Outrages Catholic Radicals” notes
Shiney Ahuja and Seema Rahmani Sins image: Yash Raj Films.
Ashmit Patel and Meera Nazar image: Vishesh Films.
“Bollywood Priest Sex Movie Outrages Catholic Radicals” last modified in June 2025.
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