MUMBAI: Hindus have criticized makers of upcoming film Angels & Demons for unnecessarily playing with the sentiments of the faithful for mercantile greed.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that faith was something sacred and attempts at belittling it hurt the devotees. Filmmakers should be more sensitive and careful while handling faith related subjects, as cinema was a very powerful medium.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, stressed that films should entertain and make everybody smile but should not come at the expense of ridiculing others’ faith and spreading disinformation.

Movies like this bring more confusion and create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences.

Replying to the question of why Hindus were concerned while the movie deals with Roman Catholic Church, Zed said that despite our seriously different traditions, we were all fellow seekers of the Ultimate Reality and we were all headed in the same direction. So, we should help each other on our journey towards truth and have some sort of trust and mutual loyalty. God, as a sign of God’s munificence and benevolence, positively wished presence of different faiths.

Zed further said that makers of Angels & Demons should insert a disclaimer in bold letters in the beginning and towards the end of the movie explaining that it was purely the work of fiction. Same information about its fictional character should be included in all the publicity material and trailers.

Zed also criticized Motion Picture Association of America for giving it a PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) rating, while it deserved R (Restricted) rating.

Angels & Demons; a Sony-Columbia-Imagine mystery based on Dan Brown’s novel and directed by Ron Howard with Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer; is being released in most of the world on May 13-14-15 May.