RAI SUMMONED TO COURT OVER 'OBSCENE' SCREEN KISS

Newly-married Bollywood star AISHWARYA RAI has been ordered to appear in an Indian court next month (May07), after a kiss with co-star Hrithik Roshan in movie Dhoom-II was deemed "obscene".

Rai - who wed actor Abhishek Bachchan in a modest ceremony at the Bachchan family home in Mumbai, India, earlier this month (20Apr07) - is accused by a local lawyer of "offending public sensibility" in the scene where she is kissed lightly on the cheek.

Public displays of affection are taboo in India where under the country's law, a conviction of public obscenity means a potential three months behind bars or a fine. Roshan, along with the owners of the cinema which screened the action film, has also been summoned to court in Muzaffarpur in the eastern state of Bihar, on 30 May (07).

A court official says, "The court also sent notices to the Bihar government for allowing screening of the film despite its 'obscene' content."

The new row over obscenity comes just days after a similar case was brought against Hollywood star Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty, after the Pretty Woman actor swept the beauty into his arms and kissed her several times at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi on 15 April (07).