In the Capital, Shiv Sena activists converged at Jantar Mantar to express their resentment over the act while in Varanasi, several Shiv Sena and Vande Mataram Sangharsh Samiti activists as well as Muslims took to the streets.

Delhi Shiv Sena chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal said Gere should be arrested immediately for his kissing act. Giving a memorandum to Delhi’s Police Commissioner in this regard, Goyal also demanded police action against Shetty and organisers of the function.

In Mumbai, over 50 Shiv Sena activists converged at the Vashi railway station in Navi Mumbai where the film Metro was being shot and burnt an effigy of Shilpa Shetty and shouted slogans against her, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Ramrao Wagh said.

The protest did not take any violent turn and the situation was quickly brought under control with some activists being detained, he said.

Amar Jadav, the DCP (Zone 1), Navi Mumbai, said, “We have posted adequate police force in the shooting location now on Railways’ request, so there’s no need to worry.”

In an impromptu press conference held by Shetty today, she said, “A big deal is being made of nothing. Richard doesn’t belong to India and he doesn’t know how we react. Since there’s so much ‘song-and-dance’ sequences in Bollywood, he just wanted to add a fun element to the programme. The media is making a big deal about nothing.”

“I understand this (kissing) is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such a manner. I understand people’s sentiments, but I don’t want a foreigner to take bad memories from here,” she added.