Bollywood actress Jaya Bachchan has long been at odds with the paparazzi culture. She has expressed dislike over being photographed at events or people getting too close to her. Recently, during her conversation with Barkha Dutt, she opened up on having ‘zero relationship’ with the photojournalists wearing ‘gandi pant’. Now, the paps have spoken out, denouncing her language and opting for a boycott against the family including grandson Agastya’s upcoming film Ikkis.
Jaya Bachchan spoke about being unhappy with people who start filming her at odd locations without having the ‘training’. She cited her own father as being a ‘respected’ journalist and despite being a product of the media herself, she’s not like them. Her following words questioning their education and background caused uproar. “Magar yeh jo bahar drainpipe tight, gande gande pant pehen ke, haath mein mobile leke… they think that because they have a mobile, they can take your picture and say what they want. And the kind of comments they pass – what kind of people are these people? Kahan se aate hain?”
(But these people outside who wear dirty drainpipe tight pants with mobile phones in their hands, they think that because they have a mobile, they can take your picture… Where do they come from?)
Paparazzi react to Jaya Bachchan questioning their background and defaming their clothing
In comments to Hindustan Times, popular pap Pallav Paliwal said, “It’s unfortunate, what she said. Her grandson Agastya’s film Ikkis is going to release, what if the paps don’t come to cover the promotions?” He reminded how her husband Amitabh Bachchan’s weekly Sunday visit to fans is covered by them. “Amitabh ji comes outside his house every Sunday, no leading media covers it, it’s us paps. Judging someone on the basis of their appearance, people who work tirelessly day and night…” He emphasized that they’re the media of this generation and asked whether she can promote Ikkis without the paps’ help.
Manav Manglani responded with how the 77-year-old has not evolved with the digital era and wondered if her grandkids could help her understand the changes in society.
Finally, Varinder Chawla clarified how paps have always understood the celebrities including when Ranbir Kapoor’s request to not film his daughter Raha and Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone’s request for their kid Dua. He mentioned how a past instance when Amitabh Bachchan shouted at a fan was not shared with the world out of the paps’ respect for the star and his PR team’s request. He shared his advice to fellow paparazzi teams to stop their family’s coverage, “But she should know- the paps which she is targeting, are they all paps, or YouTubers and fans in the mix too? Kisi ko aise bura mat boliye. I told my colleagues apni self respect rakhte hain, aur inko boycott karte hain.”
(Don’t say bad things about someone. I told my colleagues, ‘Let’s protect our self respect and boycott them’.)
The Bachchan family is yet to respond.
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