Celebrity photographer Varinder Chawla opened up about the different approaches that Bollywood stars have taken in the past to convince the paparazzi community from not taking pictures of their children. He said that while Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt invited them to their home and made a personal request, Rani Mukerji threatened to sue them if they ever stepped out of line.
In an interview on the YouTube channel Hindi Rush, he said that the paparazzi community is aware that taking pictures of young children against their will is ethically murky, which is why they’ve started to avoid doing so. He said that the trend began when the earliest pictures of Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s son, Taimur, went viral. But in recent years, celebrities have been making requests to photographers to not step over certain lines.
Also read – ‘Shah Rukh Khan called me after my team invaded his privacy,’ paparazzo reveals why SRK started avoiding media: ‘I realised his love for his children’
He said, “Rani Mukerji requested us; in fact, she threatened to sue us. Then there’s Anushka and Virat, who sweetly asked us not to photograph their daughter; they also sent us gift packages to express their gratitude… Look, we know it’s not right. We’re careful, out of respect, but also because we’re scared of repercussions.” Narrating how Ranbir and Alia chose to handle a breach of privacy, and then the birth of their daughter Raha, he said, “They called us home; over 100 of us from the media, after that picture was taken of her from the roof of a nearby building.”
He continued, “It wasn’t the doing of our community. It was some news photographer, we revealed his name as well to them. But they called us home and requested us to be careful. They said that they would share photos themselves when they feel the time is right, because the baby is too young… They have their reasons, and we respect that. They stayed true to their word, and posed with Raha on Christmas.” Ranbir and Alia revealed Raha’s face to the world at the Kapoors’ annual Christmas party last year.
They have since allowed her photographs to be taken on several occasions. Rani and her husband, Aditya Chopra, remain steadfast in protecting the privacy of her daughter, Adira. Appearing on Koffee with Karan, Rani spoke about maintaining Adira’s privacy, and said, “I told them ‘Please, baby ka photo mat lijiye (don’t take the baby’s photo) and from that day, they respected that. To this day, they wait until Adira goes into the airport and then they take my pictures,” she said. Rani also joked that when she first told the photographers to not take Adira’s photos, they got “scared.” “They look at my eyes and they get scared,” she said with a laugh.
Click for more updates and latest Bollywood news along with Entertainment updates. Also get latest news and top headlines from India and around the world at The Indian Express.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
