Daily Chennai - Tamilnadu, India

Thousands of truckers cheered wildly as Richard Gere kissed actress Shilpa Shetty on her cheeks during an event to promote safe sex and raise AIDS awareness among a high-risk group.

Hollywood star Gere had joined Shetty, the winner of “Celebrity Big Brother” reality TV show in Britain this year, in an anti-AIDS drive among truckers in India, the country with the world’s largest number of people living with HIV.

“No condom, no sex,” 58-year-old Gere shouted in Hindi to thousands of truck drivers who roared his words back in unison at a dusty fairground late on Sunday.

They whooped with delight and whistled loudly as Gere swooped down on a visibly delighted Shetty to kiss her.

Authorities have been focusing on high-risk groups such as truckers, who have helped spread the virus across the country as many of them have sex with prostitutes during their journeys and infect their wives back home.

“It is the emotional barrenness of the job which is the culprit,” Gere told reporters before the event.

“The trucker community has to help each other out to change their behaviour. That’s where real change will come.”

India has around 5.7 million people living with the virus, according to the United Nations and thousands of truckers are HIV-positive.

The AIDS awareness show, organised by voluntary group Heroes Project and the Transport Corporation of India Foundation, also included actor Sunny Deol. Deol is known for his role as an honest truck driver in the film ‘Gadar’.

But the hit of the 90-minute show was undoubtedly Gere.

“Keep your drivers healthy,” Gere told the heads of trucking companies. “Do not push them. They are also human beings.” Source: ZeeNews

Categories: Actress, News