The next Mike Myers character comedy The Love Guru is set to ravage our catch-phrase needy high-school hallways this spring, but some backlash has already started to ebb onto the pic’s buzz.

And it’s a bizarre kind of backlash:

Rajan Zed, a self-described Hindu leader from Nevada, demanded that Paramount Pictures screen the film for members of the Hindu community before it is released in June. Based on the movie’s trailer and MySpace page, Zed says “The Love Guru” “appears to be lampooning Hinduism and Hindus” and uses sacred terms frivolously.

“People are not very well-versed in Hinduism, so this might be their only exposure,” he told The Associated Press. “They will have an image in their minds of stereotypes. They will think most of us are like that.”

Paramount, which has screened sensitive films for select audiences in the past, said early screenings would be held for the Hindu community.

“`Love Guru,’ which is not yet complete, is a satire created in the same spirit as Austin Powers,” Paramount said in a statement, noting that the film features spiritual teacher Deepak Chopra and Hindu actor Manu Narayan. “It is our full intention to screen the film for Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders once it is ready.”

The Love Guru is going to taint people’s view of Hinduism? Really? Did Austin Powers reflect poorly on real British Spies?

QUICK!, think of the first Hindu TV or film character that pops to mind.

That’s right. Is Mike Myers really creating a negative stereotype of Hindu that is any worse than immigrant convenient store worker?

We’re starting to think these “hindu leaders” just want to watch the film early and decide if it is the right vehicle to criticize. If you get people thinking they should be pissed off about The Love Guru’s treatment of Hinduism, they are at least thinking about the religion.

Then again, that only works if the movie is good, and The Love Guru looks like it ain’t.

Thank you, come again.