Indian Cinema News
Gere, Shilpa face complaints after street protests
Apr 17, 2007, 18:54 GMT
New Delhi/Jaipur, April 17 (IANS) After protests in several cities over Hollywood star Richard Gere's on-stage kiss and hug to Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, an NGO activist in New Delhi filed a police complaint while a Jaipur lawyer approached a court seeking action against the two.
Subodh Jain, head of a small NGO called Citizen Fundamental filed the complaint in the Man Sarovar police station in northeast Delhi.
'I have filed a police complaint against Gere for spreading obscenity at a public place and against Shetty for supporting him,' Jain, a journalist-turned activist, told IANS.
Gere hugged Shetty, bent over her and planted several kisses on her cheeks during an AIDS awareness event at the Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in the national capital Sunday evening.
The kissing episode raised the hackles of several conservative groups, with protestors coming out on the streets and burning effigies of the actors Monday.
Protests were staged in Kanpur, Varanasi (both in Uttar Pradesh), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Mumbai and Delhi.
Jain said though such scenes are common in Bollywood movies, it could have been avoided in a public place - that too in front of thousands of truck drivers. He said police assured him they would take necessary steps after taking legal advice.
However, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast Delhi) J. Singh said: 'Since kissing is not banned in India, we have filed a police complaint but no FIR (first information report) has been registered.'
In Jaipur, a complaint was filed in a court against Shetty and Gere for indulging in an 'obscene act'.
In the complainant, Poonal Chandra Bhandari, an advocate, accused the stars of committing 'an obscene act' in public place - a crime under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
After hearing the complaint, the additional chief judicial magistrate sought by April 25 the video recording of the incident.
Section 294 of the IPC provides for up to three months in jail and/or suitable fine.
© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service
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Older Talkback
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I think its silly for people to react the way they did. The media has run out of quality news and is clutching at straws to stay afloat. Its really sickening to see Indians reacting so childishly whan there are a million othe problems confronting the nation
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TrentApr 17th, 2007 - 20:08:15
This is just another reason why it might be best for the US to just isolate itself from all other countries (with exceptions of Canada and some Western European countries [France, UK, etc.] except for the purposes of trade (which, more & more, can be done by computer). It is getting too easy to get people up-in-arms angry at us. Yes, Gere should have known (assuming he didn't know) that public displays like this are frowned upon in India, but the fact that he did so then results in burnings in effigy, marches, and court filings indicate that we are just too different culturally, and it's best to just keep ourselves at a safe distance.
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