Court suspends obscenity charges against Richard Gere

India's Supreme Court suspended on Friday legal proceedings against Richard Gere, who faced obscenity charges for publicly kissing Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty last year.

Gere made headlines when he arched over and kissed Shilpa Shetty, winner of the British reality television show "Celebrity Big Brother," several times on the cheek at an anti-AIDS show in New Delhi. Read more.....................Court suspends obscenity charges against Gere

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Superstitions of Bollywood stars

In Indian film Industry "Bollywood", all the stars from Amitabh Bachchan to Sanjay Dutt, and Kareena Kapoor to Govinda — they all resort to lucky mascots, gems, colours and charms. Below are pet superstitions of some Bollywood stars in India:

Bobby Deol: He was extremely superstitious before, but is gradually giving it up. “Earlier, I would touch wood for almost everything and used to keep a block of wood in my bag; not anymore. I wear yellow on Thursdays since I’m a Vishnu( Indian God) devotee, and I won’t get rid of this habit. Fortunately for me, a cat crossing the road has always proven to be lucky,” he says.

Actress Nagma: She waits for someone to cross the road once it’s crossed by the kali billi ( black cat) . And she isn’t the only one.

Actress Riya Sen too believes in this one, along with a few others. Says Riya, “I also believe that making your pets dance, having scissors directly placed on your hand and staying in room No. 13 are all ill-omens. But I can ditch these if I want to,” she says.

Being obsessed with a particular letter are also typical of Bollywood. The K fixation of Ektaa Kapoor, Karan Johar and Rakesh Roshan is well known.

Jeetendra also reportedly changed his name before joining films. The other member of the Kapoor family to have changed the spelling of his name is actor Tusshar Kapoor. But, he says, “I can change it back to the original one and it won’t make a difference to me. I did it since my mom asked me to. I follow tarot card reader Sunita Menon’s advice, but I’m not superstitious otherwise,” he says.

Diana Hayden: She believes in just one superstition. “I throw salt over my left shoulder if I drop some. It doesn’t make any sense, but I can’t get rid of the habit and am very embarrassed about it,” she says.

Aishwarya Rai: She wears huge white lucky stones.

Lata Mangeshkar: She considers her mammoth diamond ring lucky.

Shilpa Shetty: She wears a yellow sapphire after she tasted success.

Kunal Kapoor: He always leaves a bit of food on his plate after finishing his meal.

Weird habits indeed.

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Richard Gere says 'End the circus' over Shilpa Shetty kiss

Hollywood star Richard Gere is asking the media "to end the circus," over Shilpa Shetty kiss & as per him his kissing of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was due to his failure to understand local Indian culture.

An Indian court, acting on a complaint by a local lawyer, described the kiss as an obscene act in public and ordered Gere's arrest. The kiss sparked sporadic protests in India.

Gere twirled Shetty in his arms, arched her over and kissed her several times on the cheek at an event in New Delhi last week to promote AIDS awareness among Indian truckers. Gere has since left India.

"My clumsy attempt at a 'Shall We Dance' dance move was a naive misread of Indian customs," Gere said in statement addressed to "my dear Indian friends" and issued by an AIDS charity he is associated with.

"To be honest, this recent media storm has taken me by complete surprise.

"End the circus around this episode," he said.

The 57-year-old "Pretty Woman" star's posters and straw effigies were burned in protest in some parts of India, mostly by Hindu vigilante groups, who saw it as an outrage against Shetty's modesty and an affront to Indian culture.

Shetty, the winner of the "Celebrity Big Brother" reality TV show in Britain this year, had said the kiss may have gone a "little overboard" but it was not obscene and the protests made India look regressive.

Many commentators expressed unhappiness at what they said were fringe groups making a major issue out of a harmless peck on the cheek.

Gere said it was not his intention to offend anybody and described the charity event as an evening of celebrating courageous people associated with the fight against HIV/AIDS in India, which has the world's highest HIV caseload.

Although Gere, who also starred in "An Officer and a Gentleman," could face three months in jail or a fine or both for such an offence, he told a U.S. cable channel Thursday that he did not know anyone who had gone to jail for something like this.

"Me kissing the girl on the cheek was nothing," Gere told cable channel Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" in New York where he was promoting his latest film, "The Hoax."

Gere, a devout Buddhist, visits India frequently to meet the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India, and is a vocal supporter of the Tibetan cause as well as being involved with charities dealing with AIDS and orphans in the country.

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