Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
Shilpa Shetty is in the news again, and once again for reasons totally uncalled for. Richard Gere publicly kissed her hand and cheeks repeatedly at an AIDS awareness event. And as always, this time too, protesters say Gere's kissing of Shilpa goes against Indian culture. This has led to widespread protests from several quarters, which in my opinion is total non-sense. If Shilpa Shetty does not have an objection why others should be bothered about it. She is an adult and knows what she is doing.
If you remember, Shilpa Shetty grabbed the headlines earlier this year when racist comments against her from a fellow contestant of the celebrity show Big Brother was widely condemned by people. Seems all of a sudden she has become a media favorite. What her movie career of 15 years could not do for her, these controversies have done within minutes. A few days back Akshay Kumar too added some publicity to this good-for-nothing (arguably) actress when he commented she was the first bollywood actress whom he slept with although later he said that was some media gossip and he never said that. LOL. Anyway, whether true or not, and who cares afterall, Shilpa Shetty is really having time of her life.
I really wonder what has happened to the world's biggest democracy where citizen has the right to expression and this reaction from fundamentalists groups is really beyond my imagination. And it's not that it's happening for the first time. There was a huge furore over Kareena-Shahid lip lock sometime back and more recently Hrithik-Aish kissing scene in Dhoom 2. I say, chill out guys, what's wrong there. When Amitabh Bachchan asked to chop off the kissing scene from Dhoom 2, it took me by surprise. It was an act of narrow mindedness from India's biggest star. And when he can do it, it really does not come as a big surprise when these self-proclaimed moral inspectors start burning posters of Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty.
What concerns me most is why do these news channels give so much importance to these news. Aaj Tak - "bada hi tej channel" - has been showcasing this as national headlines for last so many hours. That's a criminal wastage of national time! Don't we have better things to ponder over? Don't they realize what they are doing? By the way, at the end of the day no one gains anything out of it but for these celebrities, who get some boost to their sagging careers. Whether it's Big B - SRK cold war, Mika-Rakhi Sawant's smooch, Kareena-Shahid lip-lock, Aish-Abhishek's wedding bonanza, Aish-Hrithik's kiss or numerous MMS scandals, why should we let them have free publicity? Let them earn their success the harder and more deserving way.
It's their personal lives. Let them live!!! By creating controversies, what really missed out was the noble cause for which Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty volunteered - AIDS awareness!
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Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
oh boy here we go again.....I saw this news this morning and came by here to see if you guys had a take on it.....It is such a mindless issue (although not as mindless as the whole Sanjaya thing)....that its tough to bring in freedom of expression, speech etc. in this context.....I am sure there'll be lot of us quoting the ancient scriptures and how our Indian culture forbids PDA....but look around....Rakhi Sawant and Sherlyn Chopra are running around half naked.....how sexually oppressed does one have to be to burn an effigy of someone because they kissed in public.....
Having said that Richard Gere should have known the consequences.....one thing he should have learnt in his numerous visits to India is that no kissy, no touchy in public.....this is not USA....where you can tear a piece of someone's fancy top while dancing and nothing will happen.....bhaiya idhar riots ho jaayenge:-)
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
Well said Aslam! I remember Richard Gere tried something similar with Bipasha Basu in his last trip although the Bengali bombshell managed to escape. She must be regretting that now...had she allowed, she would have become international star, courtesy Aaj Tak, Sahara Samay, Headlines Today, NDTV, et al.
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
The culture angle by protesters is wrong, which hides the main issue.
The more I see it the more I feel this is the case of domination, White man considering himself as a ruler of Indians. Mr Gere forgot that India got independence in 1947, England no longer rules us.
But then thanks to liberalisation post-1991, India is poised for yet another period of slavery in the coming years. This is just a start. More things will follow. Indians must now accept the reality that they are secondary citizens as compared to the White man, an inferior class, and be ready to face more humiliation.
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood! She isnt a school teacher or something, she is just a movie star and we have seen her doing it so many times that it doesnt come to me as a surprise no more. theres no sense in this news.
haaha--lolz
haha
shilpa shetty
haha
lolz ppl!!
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
I agree abt the Amitabh bachchan thing...how narrow minded was that?!! people need to realize what they ACTUALLY believe in! apparently there is nothing wrong with Mallika Sherawat and co. wearing all these rags..is that not against our culture? lol
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
Wow!! I can’t believe that people, who wrote kamashutra, would mind seeing people kissing in public eye. It’s not about white or black it was just a friendly kiss…I don’t understand why people are so narrow mined about such things like this. About the Bachchan I agree, it’s totally crap. Should I say Roshan was the kisser Ash didn’t even kiss she was just their as any object.
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
I mean she is the ugliest of all the movie actresses that we have around at this moment. She looks like S**t. So someone who kisses her must be maha s**t. Secondly people do get affected by PDA. How about ur sister or mother do it in front of all the people. Com on! guys where is the indian morality now?? What happened to our pious culture?? Our ganga is now polluted to the extent that it needs to be cleaned.
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
to anonymous
if my sister and my mother are kissing their husbands in public that's their choice....however if they are kissing some other men then that's a problem.....but this incident doesn't qualify as PDA....this is something different.....I remember when that Brody dude smooched Halle Berry there was a big scandal in Hollywood so for all its openness Hollywood is not unaffected by these things.....but primarily because it was something outrageous.....Richard Gere could have just kissed her on the cheek like normal American people do and if he wanted a longer version I am sure Shilpa would have obliged him in private....:-)
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
The whole episode is too blown up. chill out guys, it's not a big deal. moreover as i see it, richard gere was trying to entertain those truck drivers for whom this aids awareness prg was held - in bollywood ishtyle of naach gaana. and as Rajat mentioned above, Shilpa would have obliged Gere in private anyway...so it was not as if he was trying to take any advantage.
Vijay, i liked your "bada hi tej channel" piece :)
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
"On April 18th, 2007 Anonymous (not verified) says:I mean she is the ugliest of all the movie actresses that we have around at this moment. She looks like S**t. So someone who kisses her must be maha s**t. Secondly people do get affected by PDA. How about ur sister or mother do it in front of all the people. Com on! guys where is the indian morality now?? What happened to our pious culture?? Our ganga is now polluted to the extent that it needs to be cleaned."
So you basically mean that IF your sister or mother does a kissing scene half naked in bed in a movie, then its ALRIGHT with you BUT if someone kisses on her hands or cheeks in public, then you think about CULTURE !! ....................... bravo!
Re: White Man's Privilege?
For a society that has been deeply damaged by colonialism can one think of a more offensive image of a white guy grabbing a daughter of India and forcing himself upon her? It is so symbolic. It is right in line with the image of the white colonist forcing himself upon a country and just taking whatever he wants.
Richard Gere should pay the ultimate price for this.
What bothers me however is those who would blame Shilpa Shetty for this.
Too often women victims of rape in India are blamed for what happened like they wanted the rape to happen or it was their fault the rape happened even when the truth might be that the rapists brutalized them and they couldn't stop the rape from happening.
While of course Richard Gere didn't actually rape Shilpa Shetty, I still see this whole "Blame the Woman Victim" dynamic in place. From what I saw from the video Shilpa Shetty did nothing to cause Richard Gere to act the way he did, and was in fact as shocked as everyone else was that he would act in such a disgraceful manner.
We need to defend this daughter of India, not blame her for this white man's assault upon her.
Re: Shall We Kiss, Pretty Woman? Nope, Pardesi Babu!
To Scott and like minded
Please get a life!! You all watchdogs of the Indian culture and women grow up . Have all these people pondered why is it that in India women are mauled in public transports and can not even go at night without the fear of being g molested or raped. Let us concentrate all such problems because men who are screaming and ranting about the invasion of weatern immorality are usually the ones who ogle at women outside of thier homes while keeping thier sisters safe and sound locked the house.
An Innocous act such as kissing does not spread aids!!!! Now go figure as to why we have an aids epidemic in India.
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