Paps & Privacy: Photographers Should Sometimes Leave Celebs & Their Kids Alone

Actors including Janhvi Kapoor have called out the paparazzi for breach of privacy.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Celebrities have always had a friendly and not-so-friendly relationship with the paparazzi in our country. While we often come across videos of actors greeting paps, we also see them lose their cool on the paparazzi. A serious issue that celebs have voiced out is the invasive nature of the paparazzi. And privacy is something we should all be mindful of.

Let's look at some recent instances where the behaviour of the paps warrants criticism.

Flashing Camera On Ranbir & Alia's Daughter's Face

Recently, a video of Ranbir Kapoor went viral when he was returning from Italy after attending the Ambani pre-wedding bash with daughter Raha and Alia Bhatt. A team of paps were waiting at the airport, and when the family got into the car they kept clicking pictures. Ranbir was seen gesturing to the paps to not flash the camera at Raha since it was dark and the bright light was disturbing her. However, his request fell on deaf ears and finally Alia had to turn Raha's face to shield her from the glare.

Ranbir was calm and patient throughout, but shouldn't the paparazzi ensure that celebrities and their children aren't inconvenienced when they are being clicked?

Obsessing Over Actors & Star Kids

In our country there's a huge obsession with actors and star kids, and the paps leave no stone unturned when it comes to giving us hourly updates about their lives. Are they going to the salon? Are they returning from the gym? Which parties did Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan attend? What are our actors doing on a Friday or Saturday night? True, that with this profession there's no escaping the cameras.

Does that mean the cameras have to follow celebs to their bedrooms? Some time back, the paps followed Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor to the lobby of their house as they were returning from a party. Saif mocked and told them, "Aisa kariye aap humare bedroom mein aa jaiye (Do one thing, come to our bedroom)."

Even Shahid Kapoor shot back at the paps for repeatedly clicking photos of him, his wife Mira and their kids outside their school. He told them, "Don’t take photos of the kids. You have already taken 250 crore photos."

Clicking Female Actors From Objectionable Angles

Among many concerns regarding paparazzi behaviour in the country, many female actors have gone on record to say how they have been clicked from inappropriate angles, only to fuel clickbait articles. And we have seen Instagram being filled with extremely voyeuristic videos of actresses. They lead to unsavoury comments, incessant trolling and the women are sexualised in an offensive manner. Ajay Devgn and Kajol's daughter Nysa was subjected to the worst trolling after a video of hers tripping outside a restaurant went viral.

Here's how people reacted:

In recent interviews, Mona Singh and Neha Sharma highlighted the double standards in the coverage of women, saying that they are subjected to disrespectful scrutiny while the men are spared.

“They (the media and paparazzi) keep focusing on women’s bodies inappropriately. Will they do this to a man by zooming into their crotch when they’re walking? No, they won’t. But they do that to every woman.”

Mona Singh, Actor.

Mona also called out the paps for seemingly anticipating wardrobe malfunctions so that the coverage becomes sensational. “Whether you attend an event or go to an award function, these are the kinds of videos you keep seeing of yourself. I think every woman actor should stand up and raise their voice against it. It’s really not cool what they do. It’s almost like they wait far some faux pas to happen," the Jaisi Jaisi Koi Nahin actor told News18. Neha echoed Mona's thoughts and told India Today, "It’s important to be seen in today’s time. As for the angles, it does get distasteful. As a woman, you also lose your freedom to dress the way you want to. When you are in the public eye, you do have to be careful as sometimes things go out of line."

Even Janhvi Kapoor, in her interview with The Indian Express, spoke about a viral video wherein she can be seen asking the paps not to click her photos "from the wrong angles." She said that while some paps respect her requests, there are many others who violate her privacy.

"Some of them have also been incentivised to do these things. They’ll take a normal video of you, but in the cover photo they’ll use the picture with the wrong angle, the ones that look the most sensational because it is clickbaity, especially when it is a woman. That’s when you feel not most comfortable. I can’t even walk confidently because there is a constant commentary going on in my head that ‘bachke rehna galat angle aa sakta hai’. It’s sad, unfortunate, and I hope better sense prevails. It’s not respectful," Janhvi told the publication.

There Should Be Boundaries

We are living at a time where social media is governing our lives to a large extent. Celebrities also are in constant pressure to make themselves as accessible as possible. It's very important to be 'seen' in today's day and age. But free access doesn't mean that boundaries have to be blurred. The paparazzi function as a bridge between celebs and the audience, and they should be mindful of how they are conducting themselves or what they are putting out on their social media platforms.

When a celebrity requests that pictures of their kids be kept private, respect that. When they are on a break and they don't want to be photographed, respect that too. One section of the paparazzi is mindful of that. Recently, Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli thanked the paps and gave them gifts for helping them keep their kids Vamika and Akaay out of the limelight.

Similarly, it's also the responsibility of the paparazzi to take a call as to what kind of photos and videos are being clicked and what's going out. It's very disrespectful to photograph celebrities, especially the women, from certain angles to titillate the viewers. Mrunal Thakur had said in an interview with iDiva that she had a conversation with the paparazzi regarding some of her photos that were highly objectionable. "I just told them that I respect your profession and you need to respect me and my identity, my character and who I am because when my relatives and family friends see, it doesn’t leave a good impression, not on me, not on the page it is uploaded on. So, they’ve understood and I am really happy that there are people who are also talking about it, that they are not comfortable."

More often than not, celebrities are called out for losing their temper. But their should be some accountability on both sides. The paparazzi should, sometimes, leave celebrities and their kids alone.