I am sick and tired of the kiss controversy: Shilpa

New Delhi, May 14 (UNI) Even about a month since an innocuous "peck on the cheek" of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty by Hollywood actor Richard Gere, the controversy created by the event refuses to die down.

No wonder then, the very talk of the said incident, which occured at an AIDS awareness event on the outskirts of Capital Delhi on April 15, causes Shilpa a feeling of disgust.

''I am so sick and tired of this whole thing. Gosh, I didn't even know that he (Richard Gere) had kissed me two or three times. It was over and done with in a flash. However, the media seems to be going on and on and on - pausing, replaying, looping it, slow motion, they dedicated some 45 hours on prime time, this is pretty long,''Shilpa told CNN while talking about the controversy.

Speaking in an interview on the CNN's Talk Asia programme, Shilpa, commenting on the plethora of protests in India in the wake of the controversy, including burning of effigies of Gere, said,''it was so silly. I didn't understand why they had to make such a big deal about it. You have to see the bigger picture. I think it's very important to see that we were there for a very important cause to spread the whole AIDS and HIV awareness campaign; a cause that matters to this country.

But people just forgot that in second, gave importance, and completely hijacked the whole issue of the AIDS awareness theme and digressed completely onto the case.'' ''What upsets me the most is the fact that this has gone all around the world. And it makes my country look very bad.

And that is what irks me. Because our country has moved ahead by leaps and bounds and you don't want to project this image of India. Because this isn't it,''she added.

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