An Indian court last week issued a warrant of arrest for Gere on charges of "obscene" behaviour after the televised embrace in which the star bent Shetty backwards on stage and kissed her repeatedly.

The incident triggered a public storm in India, known for its chaste public behaviour despite Bollywood's sexually suggestive song-and-dance routines.

Radical Hindus burned effigies of the 57-year-old Gere in India's entertainment hub of Mumbai and organised street rallies in New Delhi.

But Shetty, 31, who is in Australia to promote her latest film, said the kisses had been "blown out of all proportion" and Gere "was just being very sweet."

"The media tends to get slightly irresponsible at times but that's the price one has to pay for celebrity," she said.

"The majority of Indians don't feel that way. It was the lunatic fringe that took over.

"This whole moral brigade got some momentum and some people who had political affiliations got some mileage out of it as well from my profile, and Richard's."

Gere issued a "sincere apology" for any offence he caused a day after the furore erupted, saying the way he kissed Shetty was a move from his movie "Shall We Dance."

"My clumsy attempt at a 'Shall We Dance' move was a naive misread of Indian customs and I assure you nothing more," he said in a statement.

The warrant for Gere and a summons for Shetty were issued in the Rajasthan state capital of Jaipur following a complaint by a lawyer who accused the actor of "an obscene act" which carries a penalty of three months imprisonment, a fine or both.