Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere he swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event.
Many saw the act as an outrage against Shetty’s modesty and Indian culture, though Shetty herself angrily dismissed the protests as an “over-reaction” that made India look silly.
Shetty tried to stamp out the controversy.
“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 the Press Trust of India news agency.
Shilpa said, “I understand people’s sentiments, but I don’t want a foreigner to take bad memories from here,”