Media barricaded at the back, fan clubs in front in Bollywood: Paparazzi say stars have created a ‘jhoothi duniya’

Shah Rukh Khan was placed at the back during Jawan promotions. (Photo: Pooja Dadlani/Instagram)

There has been a lot of debate around paparazzi culture in the Hindi film industry, especially after Jaya Bachchan’s scathing remark against photographers over their behaviour and presence. Recently, Varinder Chawla, a Bollywood paparazzo with over 25 years of experience, spoke about the issue and admitted that while paparazzi have their own contacts, they are often called by PR teams to events to create a crowd.

Speaking to Hindi Rush, Varinder said, “Earlier, when I used to work with my father, we used to get invitations for events, and even today we get invitations for events like trailer launches, parties and more. However, when celebrities step out to do interviews, we get a tip-off. However, we don’t get tip-offs for their every outing.”

He added, “For airport spotting, we have teams active 24/7. This includes the private airport of Mumbai. Our boys have sources from inside the airport who tell them about which celebrity is coming and going. So to say we are called everywhere by the PR is wrong. There is a paparazzi culture, and our boys have even learned the car numbers of actors.”

Varinder spoke about how PR teams of actors often call many photographers who are not associated with known paparazzi brands just to show a crowd at venues. “I went to an event recently, and I saw so many photographers there that I asked the PR, ‘Who are they?’ Because the PR had told me that only limited media was invited. But the PR told me that he needed 60 people at the venue, so he called those photographers and filled the space with them.”

He added, “Actors have to understand that their PR team isn’t just calling the limited four paps but so many others, and they don’t even know who they are. Whether they are YouTubers or somebody else, and then they pass bad comments on actors.”

Talking about how actors prefer fan club crowds over journalists because they like hearing good things about themselves, Varinder said, “In today’s time, if there is a trailer launch or any other event, when media is invited, you will see people from the fan clubs at the back. They want shor-sharaba of fan clubs to make the actor happy. Then why are they calling senior journalists? They don’t even let journalists ask questions and the fan clubs just make a lot of noise for the actor and then leave.”

Journalist Hina Kumawat spoke about Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jawan’s trailer launch and how the fan club crowd was placed in front while the media was seated at the back and were not allowed to ask questions. “They had put barricades during the Jawan trailer launch, where the media was placed behind, and none of the journalists were in front. The people from the fan clubs were sitting in the front.”

Journalist Vickey Lalwani spoke about the paid culture in the Hindi film industry, where even crowds are bought. He said, “This paid culture is here to stay. Earlier I used to think only politicians call people to listen to their lectures, but now even stars call such people and even media houses. During interviews, the 200 people sitting in the audience are all paid. Take any platform, nobody from that 200 crowd of audience will ask discomforting or tough questions.”

Heena added, “During the promotion of a film, the makers do a package deal with the PR in which the PR promises to bring 60 media, but what they don’t tell the makers is that 40 from that 60 is paid media.”

Journalist Ujjawal Trivedi said, “Some PRs have their own websites, they are funded by them, and they get articles published. Earlier PRs used to call journalists and wait for the articles to get published in newspapers or websites, but now the websites are funded by PRs themselves. Stars have created a jhoothi duniya around them, and they think that so many people are clapping for them.”