Protesters in India Burn Gere Effigies

[lilmads]

Protesters in India Burn Gere Effigies
Apr 16, 10:24 AM EST


The Associated Press

NEW DELHI -- Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere on Monday after he swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event.

Photographs of the 57-year-old actor embracing Shilpa Shetty and kissing her on the cheek at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi were splashed across Monday's front pages in India — a country where sex and public displays of affection are largely taboo.

In Mumbai, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks and set fire to glamorous shots of Shetty.

Similar protests broke out in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds chanted "Down with Shilpa Shetty!"

The two appeared at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday to highlight the HIV/AIDS epidemic among India's truck drivers. In front of a cheering crowd, Gere kissed the giggling Shetty on the hand, then kissed her on both cheeks before bending her in a full embrace to kiss her cheek again.

"This is a bit too much," Shetty said after the embrace.

On Monday, Shetty tried to stamp out the controversy.

"I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner," she told the Press Trust of India news agency.

"I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here," PTI quoted her as saying.

The spokesman for Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the kiss.

"Such a public display is not part of Indian tradition," said Prakash Javadekar, according to PTI.

Shetty, already well-known in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" — another controversial public appearance. A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by making allegedly racist comments to Shetty. Mobs took to the streets of India to denounce Goody, and Shetty went on to win the compe ion.

Gere's screen credits include "Chicago," "Pretty Woman" and "An Officer and a Gentleman."



Being Indian, I know they take this stuff seriously. Any thoughts?

[midgetonadonkey]

Can you blame him? She's hot.

[Borosai]

I'd hit it (as long as she wears deo/perfume).

[Spurminator]

How realistic were these effigies?

I hope no gerbils were harmed.

[Bob Lanier]

I was expecting something a little more like this

[2Blonde]

I was expecting something a little more like this

[tlongII]

I'd hit it, record it and post the vid on a website.

[TDMVPDPOY]

id hit it too if she doesnt smell like curry, wtf is the third eye on her?

[E20]

I'd bang/ the living daylights out of her.

I've always wanted to say that.

[cornbread]

Last time he tries to help those assholes.

[midgetonadonkey]

I'd bang/ the living daylights out of her.

I've always wanted to say that.

Aren't you like 12 years old? Should you really be using that kind of language?

[E20]

Aren't you like 12 years old? Should you really be using that kind of language?

I'm 18 and three quarters.

[midgetonadonkey]

I'm 18 and three quarters.

Wow. You are a big boy now.

[E20]

Wow. You are a big boy now.

Yup............

[phyzik]

Being Indian, I know they take this stuff seriously. Any thoughts?

My thoughts (the same as 99.5 KISS) are they wont be given any respect as a country any time soon until they can learn to control themselves with like this... its not like he pulled off her dress and banged the out of her on stage.

And I thought us Americans where up-tight about sex.

[lilmads]

^
How can you not give a country any respect because of their rich and high cultural values? If it's in deeply in their culture, you can't do anything about it. I thought it was a bit extreme as well. But I know how they take stuff like that, and it wasn't a small thing for them. But you can't say they won't be given respect because of that. If that's how the country is and always will be, you can't change that.
There was a point and time that they had no kissing scenes in any Bollywood movies. And up till today if its usually done it's done very subtle and as 'classy' as possible. It's in the culture and what they respect and accept.
And if he ever did bang her right there, he would have been dead right now, literally.

[TheSanityAnnex]

^
How can you not give a country any respect because of their rich and high cultural values? If it's in deeply in their culture, you can't do anything about it. I thought it was a bit extreme as well. But I know how they take stuff like that, and it wasn't a small thing for them. But you can't say they won't be given respect because of that. If that's how the country is and always will be, you can't change that.
There was a point and time that they had no kissing scenes in any Bollywood movies. And up till today if its usually done it's done very subtle and as 'classy' as possible. It's in the culture and what they respect and accept.
And if he ever did bang her right there, he would have been dead right now, literally.

The Lexus and The Olive Tree.

[E20]

My thoughts (the same as 99.5 KISS) are they wont be given any respect as a country any time soon until they can learn to control themselves with like this... its not like he pulled off her dress and banged the out of her on stage.

And I thought us Americans where up-tight about sex.

There are different ethinicities in the world with different cultural values. Everywhere can't be like America. That's the thing that gets played around the rest of the world: Americans are too arrogant and won't take the time to understand anybody else's beliefs or values. It's there way or the highway.

[lilmads]

^ I definitely agree with that

[baseline bum]

that dumbass PETA . Off with her head.