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Here in the U.S., Richard Gere may be enjoying good reviews in a well-received movie, but he isn't nearly as loved overseas in India, as the actor currently finds himself at the center of a growing shitstorm after having dipped and kissed a major Bollywood actress on the mouth at a public rally:

Actor Richard Gere has sparked protests in India after kissing Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty at an Aids awareness rally in New Delhi.

Demonstrators in Mumbai (Bombay) set light to effigies of the Hollywood star, while protesters in other cities shouted "death to Shilpa Shetty"...Public displays of affection and sex are still largely taboo in India.

Of course, this is not the first time Gere has raised eyebrows by wooing an off-limits, famous foreign face abroad, as the International Gigolo once seduced the Japanese Prime Minister with a waltz in plain sight of cameras. Feeling terrible about his blasphemous PDA, Gere has magnanimously sworn to make amends with the outraged Indian people, offering to suck face with Bollywood studmuffin leading man Abhishek Bachchan in front of a crowd of cheering thousands at a second AIDS rally.