Sizzling and under scanner

Patna, April 30: The Bihar State Women’s Commission is breathing fire over a liplock.

Taking suo motu coginzance of two Bhojpuri stars kissing each other in public, the commission has planned to summon Abhay Kumar and Preeti Payal, who were seen smooching during a function organised to promote their albums Tu hamar samaan hau (you are my commodity) and Honth chusail (sucked lips).

The commission members, who today saw clippings of the video albums, will also summon the Bhojpur-based producer of the albums after having reportedly found the act “objectionable and unpalatable”. Commission chairperson Manju Prakash told The Telegraph: “The offenders may get away since a weak legal provision is in place but the commission has all the rights to summon them and file a case against them. That would, at least, embarrass them publicly.”

The producer of the album (whose name has not been disclosed by the commission), however, came up with his own defence of the act. “Let law first rein in launda (boy dressed as girl) dance then come down hard on us,” the producer reportedly told the commission over phone.

Prakash, however, clarified that a recent Rajasthan court arrest warrants against Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty for a kiss during a function and a Muzaffarpur court summoning Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom 2 had nothing to do with their action against the stars.

The legal fraternity, however, feels the case does not hold much ground as “there is hardly any legal teeth against obscenity”. “Besides, vulgarity is a relative term,” said Tuhin Shankar, an advocate in the high court.

But social activist Anil Sulabh said: “The society must discourage vulgar shows. It is more a matter of social regulation than moral policing.”