MUMBAI - A JOKE about US singer Michael Jackson has been cut from a new Bollywood film after it was deemed insensitive, the Mumbai Mirror said on Wednesday.

The 11th hour edit of 'Short Kut: The Con Is On' was made after actor Arshad Warsi showed the film to friends and family last Friday, the day after the 50-year-old superstar's death, the daily tabloid said, quoting unnamed sources.

Arshad realised the scene, which lampooned the late King of Pop's trademark dance style, 'would be in bad taste given the pop star's sudden demise,' one source was quoted as saying.

'The scene was initially intended to bring some comic relief. Arshad called up director Neeraj Vora and insisted that he delete the scene,' the source said, without specifying the precise nature of the joke.

'Short Kut: The Con Is On' is due in cinemas on Friday. Anil Kapoor, most recently seen as the quizmaster in the Oscar-winning film 'Slumdog Millionaire", produced the film through his company Anil Kapoor Productions.

'Anil agreed to cut out the scene regardless of the additional costs he'd have to incur,' another unnamed source at the production house told the newspaper. 'We couldn't have been insensitive to MJ.' -- AFP