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 Shipla 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!

Vijay''s blog can be accessed at http://www.moviewalah.com/diary/2007/04/16/shall-we-kiss-pretty-woman-nope-pardesi-babu

If you have an interesting Bollywood blog to share, do email us

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein or statements made in the above column are solely those of the blogger, and do not
necessarily reflect the views of IndiaFM. IndiaFM accepts no legal liability or responsibility for any claims made or opinions
expressed herein.