Paps, Privacy, Actors And Inappropriate Angles

"There are days when you don't want to be seen, so you take a break, like I did recently. But staying visible is important these days. The angles they use can be distasteful,'' shared Neha Sharma.

The paparazzi industry has spread far and wide and Indian paparazzi is no different. There is no denial in the fact that stars rely on them for publicity and they depend on stars to make a living. With the influx of digital media in India, the paparazzi culture has exploded and to get featured in a popular paparazzo’s account has now become a huge publicity spectrum. In the times of social media and the digital age, is privacy a myth? Yes, it is. Some paps are seen going beyond and invading the privacy of stars. In the past, Alia Bhatt, Saif Ali Khan and Anushka Sharma among others have spoken up against the intrusion of paps. The dynamic between the celebs and the paps seems to have changed over the years and the relationship has turned toxic.

Of late, paps clicking pics of female actresses from the wrong angles has become a hot topic of discussion. While not all photographers do this, some indulge in such disrespectful acts just for clickbait. Celebs like Janhvi Kapoor, Nora Fatehi, Mrunal Thakur and Neha Sharma among others have called out paparazzi for clicking pics of the actresses from ‘inappropriate’ angles. They have highlighted how such kind of behaviour can affect their personal and professional lives.

Avneet Kaur, 22, who has a huge fan base on Instagram, recently shared her opinion on it with Outlook India. She said no woman will feel comfortable if she is clicked from a wrong angle. She said that to put somebody in that uncomfortable situation is not the right way. “You can go about it in a very professional way as well,” she added.

She further said, ''Indian paparazzi should make sure that are not making the other person uncomfortable in any way because no woman would like that I am sure. After so many people talking about it, they will now understand that.''

Quizzed if she has ever faced such a distasteful situation, Avneet shared, ''I know how it is. So, I make sure that I am not dressed in that way and if they are trying to do that, maybe, I make sure I am not in that spot. I quickly run away.''

Neha Sharma, while speaking about the invasion of privacy by photographers, told India Today that as a woman, one loses the freedom to dress however one wants. When a woman is in the public eye, she has to be careful because things can go out of line. She added, "There are days when you don't want to be seen, so you take a break, like I did recently. But staying visible is important these days. The angles they use can be distasteful.’’

Sharma further said that their livelihood depends on this as they support their families by taking these photos and videos. “They stand in the sun all day, waiting for one shot. There are always two sides to things. When you think about it, you realise you're also helping a family, and that's really beautiful,” said the actress.

In an interview with Indian Express, Janhvi Kapoor shared her personal experience of getting clicked from distasteful angles. She said there was a phase when she would happily say ‘bye’ to paps without realising why they are asking her to do that. Later, when she realized, she felt stupid. She added, “Then there are comments on how I was intentionally trying to show these angles. The judgement around a woman’s clothes, character, sexuality is so sensitive, it’s exhausting. I hope we can come to a place where the media, the paparazzi are more cognizant of these things.”

Mrunal Thakur also faced such uncomfortable situations in the past. She told iDiva, “Earlier I was facing this problem until I had a conversation with the paps. I showed one of them the chat which my mother had shared where she had said ‘kiti pan dhaaklele kapde ghaatle tari pan te loka focus tithech kartat (however you dress up, they focus there only)’, that’s what she said in Marathi. So I was like should I stop getting clicked, should I change my route when I see you? And they know the car so we can’t even ignore them.”

“But 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 with. I don’t know why others don’t talk. Maybe they are okay with that, they can go and pap them that way, not us,” she said.

Here’s what the paps have to say

Popular paparazzo Yogen Shah, who has been in the field for more than three decades has reacted to celebrities expressing their displeasure over getting clicked inappropriately. He said they Bollywood is like a family to them and no one is gaining anything from it. Shah said that photographers shouldn’t do anything that shows the celebs in a wrong way or affects their fan following. “These things are not helping Bollywood or the industry. When we spot any celeb in casuals or other outfits, our job is to show them from a fashionable angle. If we are clicking their pics from the back, our purpose should be to show them in a good way. If you are clicking an actress from the back and not showing her face, then how is it helping her?''

Shah further said, ''If an actress wears a backless dress and the design is good, I have asked my boys to click pics of the back to show the design and style. I focus on the fashion and not the angles. You may find a few videos showing actresses’ backs on my page as well but we have shown it in a dignified way. Taking pics from inappropriate angles should stop.

I did back-to-front 30 years ago and still doing it but I always take permission before taking pics. Celebs pose for pics but now they get clicked when they are unaware which is not good.''

He continued, ''I often see female actresses try to hide their backs. We get to know that they are not comfortable. Still, some run such videos. Is it helping the stars or Bollywood? It’s just for clickbait. Bollywood is like a family for us. So, we shouldn’t do things that upset them, especially a female actor.''

Another known paparazzo Viral Bhayani said, ''Whenever an artist sees anything controversial on our page and asks us to take it down, we immediately do it. Especially my page has been under a lot of censorship. So, I have to be extremely careful. In fact, that’s why my job has become so difficult because even though I have a team of people, I have to be alert 24/7. I have to be extremely vigilant and careful. When I am not there and ask my team to put out a reel which I have not monitored, and if something goes wrong then I am the victim. I get scandalized.''

He added, ''My job is very bad right now. I have to think a lot before going to sleep. Social media is so scary that you have to be really careful of what you are posting.''

Bhayani also said that he or his team don't post controversial stuff purposely, but sometimes it just happens. ''If the celebs don’t like it or feel inappropriate, we immediately take it down.  I get more scandalized stuff than anybody else but I refrain from putting those up. I respect celebs’ privacy. The first thing is not to put and secondly, if you put anything controversial then take it down. Period,'' he said. 

It’s a fact that one can’t exist without the other. All we can say is that paps should know where to draw the line. There should be a better system that works in everybody's favour.