A Gujarat court will hear a petition seeking a ban on Hindi film "Dev" alleging it could provoke sectarian violence in the state.

A court in Rajkot, 225 km from here, Thursday ordered Govind Nihalani, director of the film, which is believed to be set in the backdrop of the state's sectarian violence of 2002, to be present when it takes up the petition on June 28.

The petitioner, Sandeep Chandrasinh Revar, has approached the court claiming some scenes in the movie resembled those from the riots set off by the burning of a train's coach carrying Hindu volunteers.

Two people, Suresh Vasoya and Hussainbhai Kachara, have sought to be a party to the case alleging Revar is seeking "cheap publicity" through the case and causing sectarian tension by filing an "uncalled for" petition.

Revar's lawyer Kamlesh Shah said the petition was also against "Dev's" screenplay writer Minakshi Sharma and co-writers G.P. Deshpande and Nida Fazli.

Shah told IANS over telephone, "Our objection is to certain parts of the movie.

"For instance, there is one scene in which policemen are shown misleading Kareena Kapoor to riot-infested area. There is another in which the chief minister played by Amrish Puri is shown arguing death figures of Hindus and Muslims.

"And there is the burning of an apartment called Noor Manzil, which resembles 'Best Bakery' carnage of Vadodara," he added.

According to Shah, the actors of "Dev", including Amitabh Bachchan, have not been included as a party to the complaint as "they have acted under the direction of Nihalani".

Revar has stated in the petition that the depiction of sectarian violence in "Dev" is against the majority community.

The petition cites an incident in the coastal town of Jamnagar, which saw sectarian tension after members of two communities watching the movie in a theatre got into a heated argument.