Is Kareena virgin? Biggest question in Bollywood!

The recent fiasco over lip locked smooches involving Kareena and Shahid, the biggest hot topic in Bollywood is when Kareena lost her virginity. Is she virgin?

Well some tabloid may have manipulated their photos and produced the smooch scene in a posh Mumbai restaurant, but it is not secret that they are in love.

While Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur are busy saying that it was not them in the pictures, another story is fast gaining momentum. According to reports, both were aware that they had been photographed kissing and that the pictures were to appear in the Mumbai tabloid the next day. Sources say that Shahid had telephoned Mid-Day multimedia director Tariq Ansari and warned him against publishing the pictures. Shahid's former secretary, Gautam, who heard about the pictures a day before they were to be published, apparently was had tipped off Shahid. Kareena and Shahid maintain the pictures are morphed and that they would sue. Mid-Day has denied that it has doctored the pictures. "The material in question is not a series of pictures but a video clip shot on a mobile phone. The video clip is present with Mid-Day and with television channels and shows the couple at the restaurant very clearly," the tabloid said in a statement. "There is no question of the paper doing anything illegal. We do not agree that the photographs are obscene. We understand the reasons Kareena is upset but we do not think the issue is legal," the statement added.

The controversy over the Kareena-Shahid pictures notwithstanding, Group Editor-in-Chief of Mid Day Akar Patel insists that the letter published in Saturday's edition is far from an apology. Speaking exclusively to HTTabloid, Patel said those who think that Mid Day has changed its position, are gravely mistaken: "It is certainly not an apology. We have merely responded to the Supreme Court's observations on the matter and maintain that the way the story was highlighted by television channels was certainly not our intention. This however, does not amount to an apology and we stick to our stand that the video footage is authentic." The Mumbai daily had created a furor on Wednesday by publishing stills from a video clip that purportedly showed filmstars Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur lip-locked in an up market restaurant. While the two stars insisted the pictures were morphed, Mid Day refused to back down from its story. But today the paper published a letter that was being widely construed as a climb-down in the face of enormous pressure from the industry and other concerned parties. Titled ''Mid day on Kareena story'', the piece appeared under Patel's own byline and we quote: "The pictures we carried of Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur in Mid Day on Wednesday have become the biggest story in all media over the past few days. Our intention was simply to show two young celebrities in love, unconcerned about their very public display of affection. The subsequent media storm has raised questions about the morality and ''decency'' of the two individuals featured.

Bollywood today expressed shock and anger at the photographs of two top actors kissing in public, which dominated major news channels and newspapers. Cinestars Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor were filmed in intimate positions, a daily tabloid said adding they were shot in a party in a restaurant in Mumabi. Both, however, have denied the reports. Though there's a general dismay about the incident in the film industry, the paper Mid-Day, which carried the pictures, stands by them and has resolved to fight the legal battle to the end. "I haven't seen it. If you allow yourself in the photograph, there's no fault of media," said Amitabh Bachchan. Actress and parliamentarian Jaya Prada said: "It is not right to take the youth of the nation in this direction. I know that Kareena is not such a girl. So, whatever she is saying, I believe in that. She cannot be like that." Actor-turned- parliamentarian Govinda said the photographs were violation of an individual's privacy. "It is related to women's respect. If some girl does it by her own wish, it is wrong but if someone tries to harm someone else's respect, it is wrong and immoral," he said. Meanwhile, Kareena has sued Mid-Day, saying that neither she nor Shahid were present in the said restaurant at the time.

An agitated Kareena Kapoor has said she'll do everything to protect her dignity after pictures published in a Mumbai tabloid showed her in an intimate situation with boyfriend Shahid Kapur. "I'm not this kind of girl. I've an illustrious family name to uphold," she whispered in a choked voice from Ooty where she is shooting for Priyadarshan's new film with Salman Khan. Kareena wondered what the media in Bollywood is coming to. "This is so sick. It's not even us. The pictures have been terribly morphed. I'm going to do my best to fight for my dignity." The words come out in an anguished spurt. Kareena was genuinely distressed by what she sees as a violation of her privacy. "I believed such mischievous morphing happened only on the Net. Now it has reached the print medium. It's really sad."

The film industry also seems to be worried about the repercussions of the incident. Said one of Kareena's colleagues and friends: "Today it's her, tomorrow it could be me or any other actress. For Christ's, don't we have the right to enjoy a private meal at a restaurant? And to pay such a heavy price for being celebrity is just not right. This is sheer violation of privacy." Though there's general dismay about the incident in the film industry, Mid-Day, which carried the pictures, stands by them and has resolved to fight the legal battle to the end. The incident proves one thing for sure. Paparazzi journalism is here to stay in Bollywood. Earlier, gossip journalism in Bollywood entailed only the harmless tittering of pen pushers who speculated about romance between one and the other star.

The paparazzi were a long way off from penetrating Bollywood, even when television exposes about politicians caught in compromising positions became the order of the day. But film stars were too respected and loved. All that has changed. Television channels stop at nothing to capture on camera the stars in embarrassing situations. Recently, one channel did a Tehelka-like expose with hidden cameras on the alleged flesh trade among Bollywood's starlets. The story amused rather than shocked the trade. Now, with mobile cameras around, no celebrity is at liberty to let his or hair down without losing the hair completely. The Kareena case is more complicated since she claims she wasn't at the restaurant where the pictures were taken. The coming days and weeks would make the picture clearer.