Celebrity Stats

Bollywood star SHILPA SHETTY has hit out at a "lunatic fringe" for the outraged reaction to her kiss with actor RICHARD GERE. A warrant was issued for Gere's arrest after he embraced the actress on television at an AIDS-awareness event in Delhi last month (Apr07), after complaints of "obscene behaviour". Gere has since apologised for the kiss, but Shetty insists the incident was blown out of proportion. She says, "The media tends to get slightly irresponsible at times but that's the price one has to pay for celebrity." The incident has provoked debate in India, where conservative attitudes contrast suggestive behaviour in Bollywood films. The judge who issued the warrant has been criticised by many, who claim the arrest order against Gere has no legal merit.

A court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Thursday, saying their kiss at a public function “transgressed all limits of vulgarity,” media reports said.

Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection offended local sensibilities, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Gupta earlier viewed television footage of the event, which he called “highly sexually erotic,” saying the pair violated India’s strict public obscenity laws.

Gere and Shetty “transgressed all limits of vulgarity and have the tendency to corrupt the society,” PTI quoted the judge as saying.

Such cases against celebrities often filed by publicity seekers are common in conservative India. They add to a backlog of legal cases that has nearly crippled the country’s judicial system.

Gere left India shortly after the kissing incident and it was not immediately clear how the warrant would affect him.

Gere is a frequent visitor to India, promoting health issues and the cause of Tibetan exiles. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has his headquarters in the north Indian town of Dharmsala.

Under Indian law a person convicted of public obscenity faces up to three months in prison, a fine, or both.

Last week, crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of the 57-year-old star of “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “American Gigolo” and “Pretty Woman” after he embraced Shetty and kissed her several times on her cheeks during an HIV/AIDS awareness event in the Indian capital.

Photographs of the clinch were then splashed across front pages in India where public displays of affection are largely taboo.

The judge lambasted Shetty for not resisting Gere’s kisses and ordered her to appear in his court May 5, PTI said. A spokesman for Shetty declined comment.

The event’s organizer, Parmeshwar Godrej, called the controversy a distraction from more important issues.

“It has detracted from and undermined the value and success of the event, which was concerned with creating AIDS awareness and promoting AIDS prevention among truck drivers,” CNN-IBN quoted her as saying.

Shetty, 31, has said the embrace was not obscene and that the media should instead focus on HIV/AIDS awareness.

“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 PTI last week.

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

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 competition.

The film fraternity, media and millions and millions of fans world over are hungry to know as much as they can about the wedding of their favorite stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. To satisfy your hunger, we get you a sneak-peek at the Wedding Card of Ash-Abhi wedding.

The invite is also as stylish and loaded as the event is. It comes in a big box and has three parts tied together with a ribbon. The first page of the invitation set contains a golden card which has the emblem 'AA', the initials of the star couple, embossed on it in white gold.


The second page of the card has Lord Ganesha embossed on it. This is followed by a few shlokas printed in golden letters. The third page has lines from a poem written by Amitabh Bachchan father and a known poet, Harivanshrai Bachchan.


The fourth and fifth pages contain the actual invitation to the wedding at the Bachchan's residence Jalsa, in both Hindi and English. Each invite has been signed by the parents of the bride and groom to add a personal touch.

If the invitation is so stylish, the wedding surely will be a private but lavish affair.