Richard Gere Lights Up Bollywood

Unlike many Hollywood stars, Richard Gere has focused on two specific causes: the plight of the Tibetans and Tibetan refugees, and the spread of AIDS in India. Now, for the crime of being affectionate with a Bollywood vixen, he’s the most hated man in India. The 58-year-old actor appeared in Mumbai (née Bombay) at a rally to promote awareness of AIDS/HIV prevention in India’s truck-driver community. Joining Gere at the rally was Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, who seems to be trapped in some permanent controversy vortex. After whipping the crowd up into chanting, “No condom, no sex!� in Hindi, Gere kissed the giggling Shilpa on the hand, and then on both cheeks before sweeping her into an embrace. As a result, protesters in Mubai burned Gere in effigy, while progressive feminist protesters in Varanasi and other cities chanted, “Down with Shilpa Shetty!�

Nice to see that India is catching up with Americans and Europeans in the three-card-monte game of seeing how outraged you can get over a trivial or unintentional slight. Of course, they still have a ways to go. People who saw “Autumn in New York� or “Runaway Bride� have been burning Richard Gere in effigy for years.