Three lawyers have filed complaints in Indian courts against Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty for kissing at a public function, a news report said yesterday.

In his complaint, attorney Poonal Chandra Bhandari accused the actors of committing "an obscene act" in a public place, which India's conservative society cannot tolerate, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

Two other lawyers filed another complaint in a court in Ghaziabad, a town on the outskirts of the Indian capital, against Shetty and private television channels for showing videos of the kissing incident, the news agency added.