Friend or foe? The pap-star dilemma

In the bustling streets of Mumbai, Shahid Kapoor recently found himself caught in paparazzi frenzy as he stepped out for a quiet dinner date with his wife Mira Rajput. The tranquillity of their evening was shattered by the relentless clicks and persistent pursuit of the paps.

In a video that swiftly went viral, Shahid’s irritation was palpable as he confronted the photographers, urging them to cease their intrusive behaviour. “Guys, can you please stop it? Please stop it. Behave yourself,” he admonished.

The incident is representative of a contentious aspect of celebrity life — the symbiotic relationship between stars and paparazzi. It’s often rumoured that the stars’ PR teams alert the paparazzi to their whereabouts, and undeniably, the relentless pursuit of the paps helps keep celebrities in the limelight.

In this, Bollywood stalwart Ajay Devgn, may be an exception. He has gone on record that he refrains from calling the paparazzi for pictures. He said on Koffee with Karan, “Nobody clicks me because I don’t call them.”

On the flip side, in an era dominated by social media and paparazzi culture, where interactions between stars and photographers can often become headline fodder, female actors, in particular, are increasingly voicing their discomfort over the invasive nature of paparazzi attention.

Mrunal Thakur shut down paps when they asked her for a back pose, while Palak Tiwari reprimanded the shutterbugs for clicking her from behind, ignoring her request not to.

However, Nora Fatehi, who has often been spotted getting captured by the shutterbugs, remains unfazed by the pap culture.

Here’s how she nonchalantly dismisses the issue: “I guess they’ve never seen a butt like that before. It is what it is. The media doesn’t just do it to me but to other female actors also. Maybe they don’t zoom into their butt because it’s not exciting, but they zoom into their other body parts unnecessarily. Sometimes, I think that there’s nothing to zoom into, so what are they focusing on?”

Taking an objective view of this love-hate relationship, what is evident is that while the stars and paps do need each other, the codes of normal, general conduct must be observed, ensuring that each side respects boundaries.