On February 21, Bollywood star Alia Bhatt slammed a popular news outlet for photographing her at home without her permission.
“I was at my house having a perfectly normal afternoon sitting in my living room when I felt something watching me,” she posted on her Instagram stories. “I looked up and saw two men on the terrace of my neighbouring building with a camera right at me.”
“In what world is this okay?” she asked.
The actor tagged the Mumbai police, which encouraged her to file a complaint. She hasn’t yet, though her PR team is reportedly in touch with the publication in question, which is part of the Times Group.
Bhatt was widely supported by members of the Bollywood fraternity, some of whom shared their unhappy experiences with the paparazzi. Among them was Anushka Sharma, who has been photographed in private spaces without her consent. Moreover, photos of her infant daughter were made public, despite appeals from Sharma and her cricketer spouse Virat Kohli to not do so.
But this is just one of the many episodes from the world of Mumbai’s paparazzi. Do these instances really constitute a breach of one’s privacy, or are they an occupational hazard, a necessary evil if you’re a public figure?
By definition, paparazzi refers to freelance photographers who take pictures of celebrities for a living. The ones especially in the West are known to be pushy and aggressive, willing to do anything for that crucial shot. This characteristic emerged in the spotlight when Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997, after her vehicle sped up to escape the paparazzi giving chase.
But the paparazzi culture in Mumbai is very different. Stars and the paparazzi largely have a symbiotic relationship, one that’s hard to imagine overseas. It’s why Anil Kapoor handed out sweets to the paparazzi when he became a grandfather and why Bhatt herself called them her “number one” at a recent event.
How does this work?
Bollywood has always been notoriously secretive and exclusive. Industry insiders “often maintain a tight grip on information and gossip,” according to celebrity publicist Dale Bhagwagar. Enter the paparazzi, who fulfil fans’ desires to get a candid look into the personal lives of their favourite stars.
Photographers, armed with DSLRs, long lenses, and other equipment station themselves outside airports, private homes, venues, gyms, restaurants, salons and pet-friendly neighbourhoods. When their targets appear, they get clicking. The stretch between Bandra and Andheri is where the action happens.
And it’s all by design.
“It would be naive to think that paps stand outside these spots, waiting for a celebrity to serendipitously show up,” Bhagwagar said. “They act on tip-offs from us PR people, marketing folks, talent management teams or the stars themselves. Very rarely do they sight the celebs by chance.”
Celebrities might “act surprised” to see this battalion of photographers, he added, “but it’s all part of an act most of the time”.
Mumbai’s first paparazzo was arguably Yogen Shah. Originally an accountant, Shah in the 1990s began feeding the pages of the Times of India’s glamour supplement Bombay Times with photos of the rich and famous.
Shah’s still around and photographing celebs, but he’s been overtaken by Viral Bhayani, the man responsible for popularising the “airport looks” that bombard our newsfeeds. He’s the leading name in India’s paparazzi scene, starting off as a shutterbug two decades ago. Today, the 45-year-old heads a team of over 20 photographers who do the work for him.
“I handle the coordination now,” he said. “No publication hires so many photographers.”
Bhayani used to sell his photos to media outlets but now posts them on his YouTube and social media channels. He does that for two reasons: media houses don’t pay that much anymore, and he has attractive rates for affiliate and sponsored advertising coming his way.
“I have realised the value of my content,” he said. “We’re in this business because this is what the audience wants. We want to give them what they’re looking for, and we work hard for it. And that helps us make money, especially through ads.”
He also credits his research skills for his extensive library of celebrity spottings. “I follow some 45 publications on Magzter,” he said.
The numbers do the talking. Bhayani boasts 5.1 million followers on Instagram and 5.24 million subscribers on YouTube. When asked why he has more posts on Rakhi Sawant than Shah Rukh Khan, his answer is simple – Rakhi has more takers than King Khan. “She fetches us $100 per video,” he said. “She’s hot.”
This is why the paparazzi’s photos hold currency and offer spontaneity, even at a time when celebrities are more “accessible” than ever, thanks to their carefully curated Instagram feeds.
Along with Shah and Bhayani, the power quartet of Mumbai’s paparazzi community comprises Varinder Chawla, son of veteran photographer RT Chawla, and Manav Manglani. All four have huge online followings, teams of photographers, and benefit from the first-mover advantage in the online space.
Given the 24x7 movement of celebrities in Mumbai, a paparazzo’s work is bound by erratic timings and unpredictable schedules. Bhayani takes things a step further – in his free time, he avoids attending parties or engagements in his personal capacity.
“Even two hours of sleep gives my competitors an advantage,” he said.
Each paparazzi network has its own WhatsApp group, which notifies members once a celebrity is slated to arrive somewhere. The delegated photographers set out for the uphill task of capturing the said celebrity in a window of a few seconds amid crowds of fans and other photographers.
It’s not an easy job, and it’s not for everyone. Photographer Arbaaz Sikka said he was a paparazzo from 2015 to 2016 before he moved on to other work.
“It’s difficult to get a proper shot, given the crowds around the celeb,” he said. “The wait is too long. You also have to take care of your camera and other heavy equipment. If something happens, you have to compensate for the loss out of your pocket.”
Travel and nature photographer Sonika Agarwal said she doesn’t want to enter this space at all. “I don’t have it in me to struggle like that, waiting day and night for just a few shots,” she said. “I’m not celeb-crazy either.”
There’s also uncertainty in pay as a paparazzo, considering they’re freelancers, and working under intense pressure can also take a toll on one’s physical and mental health. “As they say, it’s not going in the camera. It’s going in your mind,” Agarwal said.
But what about the grey area of consent, as called out by Bhatt last month? The photographer who had taken those photos of Bhatt was unreachable for comment to this reporter. Other photographers were fairly unanimous in their views.
“We condemn what happened with Alia Bhatt,” Bhayani said. “Home and personal space are a strict no-no for celeb photography, and we draw the line there. This one incident has painted the entire paparazzi community in a bad light.”
He added that there are laws, including YouTube’s community guidelines, that penalise such transgressions. Although there are no specific regulations in India to deal with these kinds of photography, the Supreme Court in one of its rulings called the right to privacy implicit in article 21.
“We stand to lose our livelihoods if we don’t care about these rules,” Bhayani said. “We have happily deleted celeb photos if they’ve objected to them.”
Bhagwagar isn’t as convinced.
“History has it that market disruptors have often trampled ethics and cultural norms,” he said. “Complaining in a society like that would be like banging your head against a wall. Tomorrow, someone will use drones to take videos or images. What will you do then? It’s better to take charge of your privacy at such times or have stringent privacy protection laws, which India is miles away from.”
While Bhagwagar thinks the paparazzi in the West are “sharks,” he describes their Mumbai counterparts as “meek as a cute little puppy”.
“When that kind of maddening paparazzi comes to India, it will tear the stars’ images apart and they will run for their lives,” he said. “Luckily for our celebs, that time has not yet come here. But let me tell you, it’s not far away. When that time comes, the weak will perish. But the paparazzi will survive.”
This report was republished from Newslaundry as part of The News Minute-Newslaundry alliance. Read more about our partnership here.