New Delhi: The typical persona of a paparazzo resembles a photographer waiting outside a posh apartment or a 7-star hotel, trying to pierce into the thick walls and high level of security through their telephoto lenses to capture the exclusive moments of the desired celeb for a running story.
Further, it could be an image of a pap waiting for long hours in a boat in the ocean just to click a couple of pics of a newly wed Hollywood couple honeymooning on an exotic island.
However, you will be stunned to find out how different this perception is from the Bollywood pap culture or the ‘Mumbai paparazzo system’ to be more specific, certain insights to whom has been recently provided by Indian film critic and journalist Rajeev Masand.
Masand in a recently published op-ed in English daily Hindustan Times has opened up on the over-looked side of the entertainment media industry in the county, that you might find hard to digest. Have a look:
Repeatitive pattern in paping celebs
Those who follow the ent news regularly must be aware of how certain stars have been regularily reported by the paparazzi from red carpets to premieres, and even outside their zym sessions, while others are overlooked frequently.
Masand give examples of actor Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan’s zym visits being constantly covered by the top paparazzi, along with Deepika Padukone’s airport looks.
Star spottings, tip offs, and PR
Many a times pics of our beloved celebs ‘accidentally’ meeting one other at the sets of a film or at assorted parties go viral among fans on social media. The film critic reveals a significant fact about these ‘star spottings’ which are mostly a result of tip offs to the media from their publicists, managers, and sometimes the celebrities themselves.
And hence, next time you see a viral pic of two celebs ‘accidentally’ spotted together, it might not just be the photographer’s good luck.
The role of money in the ‘system’
In his op-ed, Masand wrote, “When I learnt that an actor whose star was on the rise had been paying paps to make sure he was regularly in the news, I expressed my surprise to another actor that I was meeting that day”
“Sheepishly, this other actor revealed that he had a bunch of photographers on a retainership himself. ‘They’re waiting downstairs to take my pictures when I leave from here”, he added.
The ‘selling’ part
Masand give examples from Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan’s son Taimur being the absolute paps favourite, to Urfi Javed, and recenlty, veteran actor Neetu Singh reacting on her bahu Alia Bhatt and yet-to-born grandchild. The movie critic believes the Mumbai pap culture is somewhat a combo of the brand or name that’s organically sellable, with a crucial alignment of money as well as PR.
