A Christian movie on the life and ministry of Apostle Thomas is set to hit India's silver screen for the first time in 2009.

Apostle Thomas is believed to have landed at Palayoor port in Kerala in AD 52, where he established seven churches. It is believed that he was martyred in AD 72 in Mylapore.

According to reports, the two-and-half-hour feature film will be produced by the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore with a budget of around £5 million.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will inaugurate the film on July 3, at the feast of St Thomas in San Thome Basilica campus, Chennai.

Shooting for the movie, which will be a collaboration between Hollywood and Bollywood bigwigs, is due to start in December.

The project will also be backed by Ivan Cardinal Dias, the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of Faith, and the bishops' community in Tamil Nadu.

Containing a message of peace and harmony, the movie will be produced with the theme of human equality and dignity for all.

It will be filmed initially in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi and later dubbed into various other languages, including English and French.

The south Indian states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu hold special significance, as Sts Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus, spent many of his years preaching and establishing churches in these states.