Wow, the Indian Court system is serious! If you remember the other day, I wrote about how Richard Gere was in trouble for giving Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty a hug and kiss during an AIDS awareness function in New Dehli earlier this month. He swept her into his arms and kissed her several times. I think anyone from America could see from the video circulating on youtube.com that he was just hamming it up, but the Indians were not amused. Such public displays of affection are very taboo within the Indian culture and to do it, especially on stage was incomprehensible to many in the crowd of 4,000. Later, a crowd burned effigies of the two actors in protest.
Gere later apologized, saying, “What is most important to me is that my intentions as an HIV/AIDS advocate be made clear, and that my friends in India understand that it has never been, nor could it ever be, my intention to offend you,” and “If that has happened, of course it is easy for me to offer a sincere apology.” He went on to say it was a failed parody of his movie Shall We Dance?.
Apparently, the apology wasn’t enough. New Delhi Judge Dinesh Gupta has issued arrests for both Gere and Shetty because a citizen filed a complaint about their “obscene act.” What will happen if the two are convicted? It could mean three months in jail, a fine, or both. Shetty has defended the kiss saying, “…it was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner.” Legal experts in Indian have also slammed the charge, saying the embrace and kiss doesn’t amount to obscenity.
The 57-year-old actor has previously been generous to the people of India, having helped co-found Heroes Project with Parmeshwar Godrej in 2004. Heroes Project was established to help address the spread of AIDS and reduce the shame associated with those who are HIV positive through education and policy change.