KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- A new Malaysian film is under fire from Islamic clerics because the lead actress completely shaved her head for the role, an act that they say violates Muslim tenets by making a woman look like a man.

The controversy over prominent director Yasmin Ahmad's latest movie "Muallaf" highlights a growing conflict in Malaysia between hard-line conservatives and those who favor a more more moderate form of Islam.

In the past, some muftis, or religious leaders, have proposed banning reality TV shows, saying they glorify Western culture.

Both Yasmin and her lead actress, Sharifah Amani Syed Zainal Rashid, are Muslim.

"I didn't expect this uproar," Yasmin, whose previous films have also run into controversies, told The Associated Press Monday. "But come to think of it, it's a Yasmin Ahmad film. ... Overseas it's always been good news. But here I get a lot of trouble."

After Yasmin completed shooting "Muallaf," photographs of Sharifah Amani with a bald head surfaced in the media last week, causing two outspoken muftis to publicly criticize the film.

"In Islam, a woman cannot act like a man, and a man cannot act like a woman," Harussani Idris, the mufti of northwestern Perak state, told the AP. "Women should have long hair... To act, I don't mind. But to violate the religious law, I won't allow that."

Harussani said Muslims should not watch the movie, while another cleric, Mohamad Tamyis Abdul Majid of central Selangor state, said there should be tighter guidelines for artists to prevent what he called degrading actions, local media reported last week.

Malaysia's muftis command wide respect among Malay Muslims, who comprise nearly 60 percent of the country's 26 million people, but their influence is limited mainly to issuing edicts on major religious issues. Their criticism of "Muallaf" - which means a person who has converted to Islam - does not constitute an obligatory instruction for Muslims.

"I don't understand why the muftis have made a lot of noise," said Juliana Yusoff, a 29-year-old computer analyst. "We should be more open instead of making a fuss about petty things."

Yasmin denied she was trying to insult Islam, saying the film is about how three youngsters deal with their unsympathetic parents. The father of Sharifah Amani's character, a runaway girl, forces her to shave her head, Yasmin said.

"I just want to make a good film," said Yasmin. No date has been set for Muallaf's release in Malaysia.

Sharifah Amani, 21, who usually has long black hair, has told local media it was emotional to cut her hair but she did not regret it.

Sharifah Amani has also acted in Yasmin's best-known movie, "Sepet," a love story about a Malay girl and an ethnic Chinese boy, another bold theme given racial sensitivities in multicultural Malaysia.

Yasmin's internationally-acclaimed films, including "Sepet," have been criticized at home by government officials and some critics, who accuse her of presenting a false image of interracial relations, promoting promiscuity and tarnishing Malay culture.

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