NEW DELHI - AFTER asking Bollywood actors not to smoke on screen, India's health minister has called on movie heroes to stop drinking alcohol on camera - while hinting that the booze could stay in villains' cups.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Tuesday that Bollywood should set a better example for India's young people.

'Earlier, most villains were shown consuming alcohol. Now, heroes have started to portray alcohol consumption more often,' the Times of India quoted Mr Ramadoss as saying.

Young professionals gather at wine bars, nightclubs serve high-priced cocktails and - much to the Health Minister's chagrin - starlets sip chardonnay on screen.

'Actors drinking on screen will encourage youngsters to take up the habit. Scenes depicting alcohol consumption in films need to immediately stop,' Mr Ramadoss said at a press conference.

'Alcohol is the mother of all public health problems in India.'

The Health Minister's appeals carry no legal weight, and so far have not produced significant results.

Bollywood movies are hugely influential in this film-crazy country, but they remain relatively conservative.

Kisses on screen are still taboo - though suggestive hip-swivelling dance scenes are ubiquitous - and actress Kareena Kapoor recently made national headlines over speculation that she might wear a bikini in her new movie.

But alcohol has become more common in movies, a development that has been hailed by the country's young wine industry, among others, as a sign of mainstream acceptance.

This is not the first time Mr Ramadoss has accused Bollywood of bad behaviour.

In January, he called on movie stars to stop smoking cigarettes on screen, saying that 52 per cent of children start smoking to be like their film idols.

Mr Ramadoss singled out Shah Rukh Khan, one of the country's biggest stars, for smoking in his movies, but the actor criticised the appeal as amounting to censorship.

ASSOCIATED PRESS