http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=84992
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Gere appeared to overstep the mark: UK media</b>
Press Trust of India
Posted online: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 1623 hours IST
London, April 17: Highlighting the inflamed public reaction in India to Richard Gere kissing Shilpa Shetty on stage at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi, the press in Britain on Tuesday commented that the Hollywood actor âappeared to overstep the markâ.
In front of a crowd of truckers, Gere, a practicing Buddhist and a regular visitor to the sub-continent, kissed Britain's Celebrity Big Brother show winner Shetty on the hand before bending her back in a full embrace, kissing her lingeringly on both cheeks.
"He appeared to overstep the mark at a televised press conference in Delhi on Sunday night to raise awareness of AIDS and HIV among India's lorry drivers, one of the highest-risk groups," The Times observed.
According to The Daily Telegraph, "Gere jokingly grabbed her and planted several kisses on her cheek, to bowls of appreciation from an audience of New Delhi lorry drivers."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Gere might merely have done it to make a performance to raise more money/get more publicity for the campaign. And I think Shetty wasn't offended as much as embarassed, an AIDS awareness thing is not where you try to pull off a such a show - that would be the Oscars or MTV awards where random actors pretend to flirt with one another.
Gere's a Buddhist, not anti-Hindu, so it's safe to say there was nothing sinister in his intentions at all.
But this was in India, Indian people. I understand that Gere was trying to be spontaneous, friendly and make the event more publicity-worthy, but he should have realised that in India this sort of thing doesn't go down well at all. Most people don't like it, and at best it tends to make uncomfortable viewing.
It seems not only are lots of people angry at Gere, Shilpa Shetty is also a target of displeasure because of it, even if in the footage of the event that started it all, she seemed an unwitting and unwilling player.
Here's something rather strange:
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=84936
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In Varanasi, Shiv Sena and Bande Mataram Sangharsh Samiti activists <b>as well as Muslims staged protests</b> in various parts of the city and burnt effigies of Gere and Shetty to protest against their âindecent behaviourâ which, the protesters claimed, was "an attack on our cultural ethos".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->I mean, Gere is a Buddhist, Shilpa a Hindu. What offends them? Would have thought they'd use the occasion as proof that 'kafirs breed indecency and immorality'.
It's reminded me of several reviews I read written by NRI <i>muslims</i> and Indian ones about Aishwarya in the UK film 'Bride and Prejudice' where they accused the west/'hollywood' of stealing 'Indian' actresses. They also expressed fears that because she was being paired off with some 'American' guy in this movie (by the way, No, Martin Henderson is a NZ actor who does a darn good American accent) Indian women will no longer find Indian men attractive <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
(Note I only came across reviews of muslims of Indian origin expressing such fears. Other Indians were only bothered about the bollywood genre being stolen and used elsewhere, or feared Aishwarya might not return to Indian cinema.)
Made me wonder why muslims should care, as they're whining about specifically <i>Hindu</i> women (kafirs!) not Indian muslimahs. Or maybe in their mind they have already circled all Hindu womenfolk as their future property: apparently only Indian islami men have the right to leech off Hindu women, no one else.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Gere appeared to overstep the mark: UK media</b>
Press Trust of India
Posted online: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 1623 hours IST
London, April 17: Highlighting the inflamed public reaction in India to Richard Gere kissing Shilpa Shetty on stage at an AIDS awareness event in New Delhi, the press in Britain on Tuesday commented that the Hollywood actor âappeared to overstep the markâ.
In front of a crowd of truckers, Gere, a practicing Buddhist and a regular visitor to the sub-continent, kissed Britain's Celebrity Big Brother show winner Shetty on the hand before bending her back in a full embrace, kissing her lingeringly on both cheeks.
"He appeared to overstep the mark at a televised press conference in Delhi on Sunday night to raise awareness of AIDS and HIV among India's lorry drivers, one of the highest-risk groups," The Times observed.
According to The Daily Telegraph, "Gere jokingly grabbed her and planted several kisses on her cheek, to bowls of appreciation from an audience of New Delhi lorry drivers."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Gere might merely have done it to make a performance to raise more money/get more publicity for the campaign. And I think Shetty wasn't offended as much as embarassed, an AIDS awareness thing is not where you try to pull off a such a show - that would be the Oscars or MTV awards where random actors pretend to flirt with one another.
Gere's a Buddhist, not anti-Hindu, so it's safe to say there was nothing sinister in his intentions at all.
But this was in India, Indian people. I understand that Gere was trying to be spontaneous, friendly and make the event more publicity-worthy, but he should have realised that in India this sort of thing doesn't go down well at all. Most people don't like it, and at best it tends to make uncomfortable viewing.
It seems not only are lots of people angry at Gere, Shilpa Shetty is also a target of displeasure because of it, even if in the footage of the event that started it all, she seemed an unwitting and unwilling player.
Here's something rather strange:
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=84936
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In Varanasi, Shiv Sena and Bande Mataram Sangharsh Samiti activists <b>as well as Muslims staged protests</b> in various parts of the city and burnt effigies of Gere and Shetty to protest against their âindecent behaviourâ which, the protesters claimed, was "an attack on our cultural ethos".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->I mean, Gere is a Buddhist, Shilpa a Hindu. What offends them? Would have thought they'd use the occasion as proof that 'kafirs breed indecency and immorality'.
It's reminded me of several reviews I read written by NRI <i>muslims</i> and Indian ones about Aishwarya in the UK film 'Bride and Prejudice' where they accused the west/'hollywood' of stealing 'Indian' actresses. They also expressed fears that because she was being paired off with some 'American' guy in this movie (by the way, No, Martin Henderson is a NZ actor who does a darn good American accent) Indian women will no longer find Indian men attractive <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
(Note I only came across reviews of muslims of Indian origin expressing such fears. Other Indians were only bothered about the bollywood genre being stolen and used elsewhere, or feared Aishwarya might not return to Indian cinema.)
Made me wonder why muslims should care, as they're whining about specifically <i>Hindu</i> women (kafirs!) not Indian muslimahs. Or maybe in their mind they have already circled all Hindu womenfolk as their future property: apparently only Indian islami men have the right to leech off Hindu women, no one else.