‘No pictures, please!’ The curious case of celebs, paparazzi and privacy – #BigStory – Times of India
On the other side, people are curious. They admire, idolise and sometimes even worship celebrities. They want to be privy to the star’s most personal facets of life. Life of a celebrity has long become a matter of public interest. How can it then be possible in this competitive world of digital media to draw the lines? If not for these exclusive scoops and juicy gossips, no publication will have an edge over the other, and they will be left becoming nothing more than PR machinery.
In this week’s #BigStory, we explore the love-hate relationship of celebs and paparazzi and as goes the drill, seek thought provoking perspectives from celebs and paps themselves.
Where it began
The paparazzi culture came to India in the 90s. Photographer Yogen Shah who is described as India’s first paparazzo did assignments for Bombay Times that featured tinsel town’s party pictures and A-listers in designer clothes. Page 3 became the space to be photographed for. Recalling the time when it started Shah tells ETimes, “This one time when I was sent on an assignment for Bombay Times, I had to click pictures from the wedding of Subhash Ghai’s daughter. At the venue Subhash Ghai forbade me from clicking the pictures. I figured I didn’t have to be inside to grab a shot of the celebs. I could stand outside the gates with my camera.”
It’s not that easy
While a paparazzo’s job may seem easy, it’s actually not. Braving the tough weather – hot, cold, or rainy, being in the right place at the right time, waiting for hours to get a shot and many more challenges come in the way. Exclusive shots and scoop pictures are far more challenging and they have to be clicked with caution. Veteran photographer Raju Shelar recalls an incident when he was caught by the bouncers of Salman Khan. “I was in Filmcity where Salman bhai was shooting for ‘Sultan’. I captured his look from the film, but was caught by his bouncer who took me to Salman. He sat me down and explained that they put so much effort for their look, for their film. He asked me not to release the pictures, but people like to see it.”
Photojournalist Nilesh Wairkar has been capturing exclusive shots from the film sets for over two decades now. He knows his job well and also to brave the challenges that come along. “At times, we are caught hold of by the bouncers while clicking pictures. I can recall one such recent incident when I had captured Kartik Aaryan’s look from ‘Freddy’. The next time I was around him, his bouncer recognised me and started arguing how I clicked his picture without permission. He asked me to leave, but I hid around and still managed to click another picture,” he shares.
Shelar narrates how he had first captured Disha Patani and Tiger Shroff together outside a Bandra restaurant. “I stood far away, but the moment they realised there was a pap, they left from the back door. I ran towards the back door and managed to click them together.”
Wairkar recalls an assignment that got him detained by the CISF. “I went to click John Abraham who was shooting in Filmcity. But I couldn’t manage to click his picture as I was caught by the CISF. They grilled me for upto two hours about how I entered the place without permission. They clicked my picture, they also took a picture of my car although they were polite all the time. This one time they had caught hold of my aide Gurujeet Singh. We were hiding in the bushes to click pictures of Varun Dhawan, I managed to escape but Gurujeet was caught and was detained for 4-5 hours. I had to go back to get him. I paid a fine of Rs 1500 because we cannot enter Filmcity without permission or an invite.”
Shelar shares how they sometimes go out of the way for an exclusive shot. “Shah Rukh Khan was shooting a song for ‘Happy New Year’ in Kamalistan Studios. I jumped a broken wall, went inside and clicked pictures that created quite an issue. We brought out the costume pictures that the film team was guarding. SRK was quite upset about it.”
It gets ugly, at times
The relationship between celebs and paps has not been a smooth ride. While paparazzi spend hours at outdoor locations to click pictures of celebs, there are times when the stars don’t wish to be photographed. There have been plenty of instances when the paps faced the ire of celebs.
About 5 years ago, after his breakup with Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor was often spotted in a foul mood, especially with the paparazzi. The actor had requested photographer Varinder Chawla (who has been in the industry for about two decades now) to stop following him. This one time, Ranbir got so furious after being followed all the way to Ayan Mukerji’s house, that he gave Chawla a verbal lashing before snatching his phone and asked him to collect it later. Ranbir returned home in the wee hours of the morning, and when he spotted the helpless pap waiting for him at the gate, the actor summoned him inside and gave him an earful once again before handing over his phone.
Chawla recalls the incident and says, “It’s not like that anymore. Things are better with stars now. Even they realise that social media is the biggest publicity platform. And there are about 3-4 established paps who are promoting and selling content on social media. So if they give us inappropriate content, they will get negative publicity. So they behave well.”
Veteran actress Jaya Bachchan is known for her not so pleasant brushes with the paps. In 2013, at Subhash Ghai’s party, she snapped at the lensmen who addressed daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Aishwarya. Photographers called out to Aishwarya to pose for them but instead they got a tongue-lashing from Jaya who turned around and thundered, “Kya Aishwarya Aishwarya bula rahe ho, tumhare class mein padhti thi kya? (Why are you calling her Aishwarya? Was she your classmate?)” The photographers were taken aback, while Aishwarya maintained a poker face throughout the episode.
Yogen Shah begs to differ as he says, “Celebrities have not usually been rash with us. If a celebrity talks rudely, it could be for a reason. For example, in a recent video, Kajol was seen getting upset with paps. But why ask her to remove a mask for a picture? It is a safety hazard in these COVID times.”
Privacy, please!
Paps are often called out for invading the privacy of celebs. When Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli embraced parenthood after the birth of daughter Vamika, they sent a letter requesting paps to not click Vamika’s pictures. And the paps respectfully obliged. But Vamika’s pictures made their way to the internet after Anushka was recently spotted with her while she cheered for Virat from the stands.
“We don’t understand the Vamika incident. Anushka and Virat asked us not to click her pictures. And then we see she is coming out in the stands carrying the baby. She should have known better there would be cameras on her. It was telecast on international channels. After this, how can they expect the pictures to not be circulated?” reasons Varinder Chawla.
Earlier last year Anushka had called out Raju Shelar for clicking their picture in their balcony. “Despite requesting the said photographer and the publication, they still continue to invade our privacy. Guys! Stop this right now!,” a furious Anushka wrote.
Shelar recalls the incident, “When Anushka and Virat had come to reside in their flat, I had shot a picture the same night. Anushka didn’t like it and requested not to invade their privacy. I stood there for a picture till 11 pm that night. They had some party. Next day I went there again at 7 am. They came into the balcony around 9 am when I had clicked that picture.”
Raveena Tandon agrees that with the paparazzi lurking around at all times, there is no such thing as privacy in a celeb’s life. She says, “This is the way of our chosen life. This is part of our industry. It’s a price that all of us have to pay.”
The benevolence of the stars
Celebs and paparazzi share a symbiotic relationship. While paps have faced the ire of the stars, they have also witnessed their acts of kindness. The pandemic affected every sector with the lockdown in effect. Paps had little to nothing to capture and earn their bread.
“The celebrities were always kind to us. During the pandemic, some of them contacted us on their own and donated money to each of our individual photographers during the time of crisis,” reveals Yogen Shah without disclosing any names.
“Hardly any stars were spotted outside during the pandemic, and there was nothing for the paparazzi. At times, the boys went to Tiger Shroff’s residence and requested him for pictures. He was working out at home, but he readily came out in his balcony and posed for them. Janhvi Kapoor is so kind to the paps. She always cooperates when they are there outside her house and even asks them if they want something to eat or drink,” he adds.
Last year, star couple Prince Narula and Yuvika Chaudhry gifted a paparazzo an electric bike. She recalls, “Once, Prince and I were going out. We saw him running behind us. We have always seen him struggling like this on his small old cycle. So we thought of giving him a surprise so that he can work more comfortably. The smile on his face was priceless!”
Celebs’ perspective
Earlier this week, in a viral video, Rakhi Sawant was seen jokingly warning the paps saying she will file a Rs 500-crore defamation case as she urged them to move back at the venue of Shamita Shetty’s birthday party. She jokingly threatened to sue if anyone accidentally touched her. Speaking to ETimes about her experience with the paps, she said, “There is no escaping the paps, with make-up or without make-up. They always catch hold of you. One can’t even go to meet their boyfriends!”
Unfazed by the number of paps hounding her at every public appearance, she says, “It’s their love for me. They never cross a line. In fact I feel I am lucky they click my pictures. There are many who would spend a fortune to get their pictures published. I believe, dikhenge to bikenge. There are some celebs who pretend they don’t want to be clicked when actually that’s not the case. In a way the paps are making our careers.”
Most star couples prefer to keep their children away from the media glare. We’ve discussed how things escalated with Anushka and Virat, and that’s one aspect that Raveena agrees to, as well. She says, “I have kept my kids away from overexposure (of the glamour world). I want my kids to grow as normal kids.” But she’s also quick to point out that she’s not had any bad paparazzi experience. She adds, “I think our photographers always respect people’s wishes. They always kept my request too, when I didn’t want them all to click my children’s pics when they were younger.”
It’s hard to forget the visuals of Rhea Chakraborty being chased by the paparazzi all the way to her residence in 2020. Filmmaker Rumi Jaffery who had stood by Rhea when she was caught in the eye of the storm after her actor-boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput’s untimely death recalls how her treatment by the paparazzi was atrocious. “Woh to jaise atyachar tha. The girl was going through such mental trauma. There was a tragic incident of her boyfriend’s death, her family was being targetted. Moreover it was the time of COVID-19 when there were so many restrictions laid down by the BMC. In such a situation they are doing dhakka-mukki and following her car.”
Sharing his thoughts on paps tailing starkids, especially Taimur, he says, “The kid can’t even play outside. The moment he steps out, they start clicking his photos.”
“Celebs do want to get clicked. But there should be consent. Celebs are hounded when they come out of a restaurant, they are going to gym or airport. They are being followed just to click pictures. In earlier times, it was different. There were respectable photographers, we even greeted each other, shook hands with them, and chatted with them over tea. These days, there is no value. Earlier when the photographs appeared in the magazines, they had so much weight. Today it’s so common that you won’t even remember which celeb’s picture you saw on social media last,” he adds.
Social media – boon or curse?
Emphasising how the growing social media popularity has benefitted the paparazzi, Varinder Chawla says, “Earlier the celebs had too many airs about them. Before the paparazzi culture came, when there was no social media, it was very difficult for us to get pictures from the sets of films. We only had access to events. Stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan didn’t even recognise the paps back then. They only had relations with the reporters because even the PRs introduced them only. After the advent of social media, especially Instagram, the paparazzi culture started booming. There is a whole new generation of audience for such content. Now, even the paps are respected and celebs know them personally. In a way, social media has proven to be a boon for us.”
Yogen Shah disagrees with Chawla’s point of view. “Back in the days, we used to struggle a lot for pictures. At times we would stand outside all night just to get a picture. And those pictures had a huge value. These days, we click pictures of celebs at events, on the other hand, celebs themselves post their photos on Instagram. A photographer will stand outside a celeb’s house till 2 or 3 am. He is there on his own will, it’s his profession. The best we can get here are car pictures that will not have a proper composition. Whereas the picture posted by the celeb on Instagram will be different. Publications end up using those pictures instead of ours. Bottomline is the value of photographers is reducing in this paparazzi culture,” he says.
Social media and technology have made it easier to create and publish content online. There has been an emergence of content creators with soaring popularity and massive following. In today’s times, a high end mobile device is sufficient to shoot pictures and videos and start a channel of your own. Raising concerns about this culture affecting the professional paparazzi, Yogen Shah says, “Earlier real paps with real knowledge about the industry would click pictures with professional cameras. Today everyone is on YouTube, to earn money. Professional paps are incurring costs for actual work. On the other hand there is a person with his own YouTube channel who clicks and shares pictures and videos from his mobile. So the value of paparazzi is decreasing. Piracy is on the rise, there seems to be nothing like copyright. Survival is difficult now.”
Where to draw the line?
A man of reputation, Shah is strictly against unethical practices. He says, “We cover several events where celebs arrive in their cars. They pose for the photo op and we can easily get sufficient pictures. What is the need to click pictures when they are getting out of the car and adjusting their clothes? It is an invasion of privacy. Celebs have been good to us. So we must also respect their space when they say they are busy, or asking us not to click a picture. They might have their reasons to not be ready for the same, and at such times we must let them be.”
“When Hrithik Roshan and Saba Azad were spotted outside the Japanese restaurant, nobody knew who she was. They were all wearing masks. When the pictures and videos were posted on social media, it was the followers who started pointing it out in the comments. Next day, Saba’s name was all over the internet. But there was also Pashmina Roshan with them. There was another girl in the same group. Why wouldn’t you name Pashmina and the other girl just because you don’t have their pictures? Why only mention Hrithik and Saba went for dinner?” he concludes with a pertinent question.
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