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The
brouhaha in India over Hollywood actor Richard Gere's stage embrace
with Shilpa Shetty has hit the headlines in Britain, where she
continues to make news after her victory on the "Celebrity Big Brother"
show earlier this year.
Several
newspapers published the picture of Gere embracing Shetty at an AIDS
awareness event in New Delhi, along with a detailed account of the
protests across India and the Bollywood actress' response to them.
In
a headline titled 'Kiss that shocked India', the Guardian reported:
"Many saw the act as an outrage against Shetty's modesty and Indian
culture, though Shetty dismissed the protests as an 'over-reaction'
that made India look silly.
"Groups of men burned and kicked
effigies of the actors in protests across India, including in the
northern Indian cities of New Delhi, Kanpur, Meerut and Varanasi as
well as in the central city of Indore."
Under the headline 'Gere
arouses Hindu ire over stage kiss', the Telegraph reported: "Hindu
nationalist groups objected to an onstage clinch between her and
Richard Gere, the actor, during an AIDS-awareness rally.
"Gere
jokingly grabbed her and planted several kisses on her cheek, to howls
of appreciation from an audience of New Delhi lorry drivers. But
members of the Shiv Sena organisation burned effigies of Gere in the
streets of Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, and demanded that he
leave the country immediately or apologise for his 'indecent conduct'."
The
Independent reported the event - 'Indians angered by Gere's passionate
embrace with Shilpa' - saying: "The evening was supposed to focus
international attention on the sexual misadventures of India's famously
promiscuous lorry drivers.
"Instead, it plunged Hollywood
heartthrob Richard Gere into an unwelcome spotlight and re-ignited
controversy surrounding Bollywood actress and Celebrity Big Brother
winner Shilpa Shetty."
The report said: "Television footage of
the star of 'An Officer And A Gentleman' plastering Shetty in kisses
has sparked violent demonstrations in India over the couple's allegedly
loose sexual morals.
"While the multiple embrace went down well
with guests at an open-air AIDS awareness event in Delhi on Sunday
night - the audience and Shetty roared in delight at the star's
affectionate greeting - it has caused deep anxiety among some."
"Militants,
fired up by repeated showings on India's many rolling news channels,
burnt and kicked effigies of both actors in protests, claiming the
overt kissing was a full frontal assault on the country's tradition of
modesty and extra-marital chastity.
"Shetty defended the actor's
behaviour - he swept her backwards in an embrace and repeatedly kissed
her - insisting that Gere had done nothing 'obscene'. She described the
protests as an 'overreaction' that made India appear 'regressive' in
the eyes of the international community," it added.
The Times
reported the event - 'How Gere inflamed Indian passions with a stage
kiss' - by saying: "Angry crowds in the conservative north of India set
fire to dolls representing Gere who, as a practising Buddhist, is a
regular visitor to the subcontinent and prides himself on his adherence
to local customs."
Indo-Asian News Service
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