Lost in controversies? It seems the friendship between actors Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere has apparently ended with Gere not visiting the Bolly star, even though he is in India

Lost in controversies?

It seems the friendship between actors Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere has apparently ended with Gere not visiting the Bolly star, even though he is in India

Though he is in India, buzz is that Hollywood actor and activist Richard Gere is sure to give actor Shilpa Shetty a miss. Sources say that Gere — who is still talking to Indian filmmakers and is all set to play the role of a foreigner in an Indian film — is not in touch with Shilpa for the time being. The biggest controversy in Gere’s career was when he invited the wrath of moral police when he kissed Shilpa at a public function. The incident happened five years ago, but is out of public memory. Sources also say that Richard and Shilpa haven’t really exchanged pleasantries after the incident. “I don’t think they are in touch now. I guess that incident ruined their friendship that could have been for a lifetime,” says a friend of the actor. Shilpa is busy with her first production and she is also expecting her first child, while Gere is in Bihar to attend a religious discourse by the Dalai Lama. “They have both left the incident behind them and Shilpa doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. Gere too refuses to talk about the controversy which he feels was completely unnecessary and unwarranted,” the source ends. s_banerjee@dnaindia.net

What actually happened? Richard Gere was attending a truck drivers rally to spread an awareness about safe sex as part of an AIDS awareness campaign. ‘No condom, no sex,’ Gere attempted to shout in a heavily-accented Hindi to thousands of truck drivers who had gathered to watch him and Shilpa Shetty. The truck drivers were repeating his words. Suddenly, Gere caught Shilpa and kissed her on her cheek after kissing her hand. Gere had just released a film in Hollywood on dance where he does the same sequence with Jennifer Lopez. He attempted a repeat of the same scene on Shilpa inviting the ire of the moral police. Shilpa later called a press conference to defend Gere.