The kissing controversy notwithstanding, Richard Gere has been calling actress Shilpa Shetty twice a day to make sure she is coping with the scandal surrounding their public kiss.

The actor embraced Shetty on TV during an AIDS awareness event in Delhi on April 7, causing uproar in the country and issuing of a warrant for Gere's arrest.

The Pretty Woman star has since apologised for the impromptu kiss, but he's still worried about the problems his actions have caused the Bollywood beauty.

Shetty says, "He was so worried about me, he called me every day - sometimes twice! It was mortifying for him to have hit the headlines over something like this, but he was so generous about it all and kept calling me to make sure I was all right.

"He was genuinely very concerned about me. That is the kind of man he is." - (SAMPURN)