Gere Plants a Costly Kiss

When Shilpa Shetty, the Bollywood actress, sneezes, she makes news, at least these days. And imagine what happens if she gets kissed in public: it hits the headlines all over the world. It is true that ever since her career in the Hindi film industry in India has been on the decline, Shilpa has been in the news for the controversies dogging her. To do her justice, they have not been entirely of her own making.

It was the Big Brother Reality TV show in Britain's channel 4 that brought her back to limelight. Until then she was a not-so-successful actress in Bombay, India. She had started early in life and did well enough to get noticed in her first film. But her career never really took off from there, and she made few films that were worth watching. She was more famous for her swinging gyrations than for her histrionic abilities. Her recent take on the AIDS issue with the movie Phir Melenge won her some critical acclaim.

Shilpa was commended for her elegant handling of the racist remarks made by fellow contestants in the Big Brother show. Eventually she made her way into the viewers' hearts as she won the Big Brother contest in January 2007. Shilpa went on to benefit from all the media hype over alleged racism on the show. But where will this take her? Honestly, I hadn't heard of this reality show until recently. I doubt if the winners of past contests have gone places and made names. Pundits were just beginning to voice how this would affect Shetty's career and fortunes, when out popped another controversy!

This time it was Hollywood vs. Bollywood, when Richard Gere shared center stage with Shilpa Shetty promoting AIDS awareness in India. Taking everyone including Shetty by surprise, he gave her a warm embrace and planted a couple of kisses on her cheek, bringing her down in his arms. Later, Shilpa defended the incident saying Gere was simply enacting a scene from his film, "Shall we dance?"

There was a hue and a cry from the public, who called it "obscene." I am sorry to say that dual standards continue to exist in Indian society. When Indian society has embraced globalization in all its facets, this backlash seems to be an exercise in hypocrisy. Indian society has become open; the youth date each other and premarital sex is common. Then why the outcry over an innocent peck on the cheek? There seems to be two Indias: one projected by the government as modern and the face of the 21st century and another India which cannot let go of its warped thinking and its moral policing. Aren't we forgetting that the persons involved are, after all, actors and that is what they do on screen all the time? So why the furor when they enact a scene off screen?

Since the incident, Gere has issued an apology saying he never intended to offend Indian sentiments. He has asked for the "media circus" to end and hoped it would not detract from the message of preventing AIDS. Let's hope, as Richard Gere says that the outrage over the incident comes from the minority right wing which claims to be the moral police. And we all hope with Richard Gere that the case will be "thrown out."

Source: BBCnews.com, timesofindia.com