As the actor faces a boycott after Jaya Bachchan’s anti-pap outburst, Bollywood weighs in on the press-celeb relationship
Jaya Bachchan’s wobbly relationship with the paparazzi hit a new low with her recent comments on the way the photographers speak and dress, and the situation has now escalated into an all-out war between the Bachchans and the paps, who have taken a collective decision to boycott Bachchan scion Agastya Nanda’s on-release film Ikkis.
A leading paparazzi on condition of anonymity told, “We have nothing against Agastya. He is polite and well-behaved. We have nothing against Bachchan Saab or Abhishek either. And Aishwarya Ma’am is always polite. But his grandmother (Jaya Bachchan) has crossed all limits, commenting on our clothes, etc. We are poor people trying to earn a decent living. We are not doing anything wrong.”
With Agastya Nanda’s crucial release round the corner, the last thing the project needs is a media snub. So efforts are being made on a war footing to defuse the tensions.
“I don’t think talent can be stopped. I have full faith in Agastya since I saw him in my daughter Zoya Akhtar’s Archies,” said writer-lyricist-thinker Javed Akhtar, referring to the intended boycott. He added, “Agastya’s grandfather Amitabh Bachchan was also boycotted by the press for almost ten years. That didn’t affect his career.”
Adds filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, “I think the code of conduct for the press and the film fraternity has to be based on respecting each other’s boundaries.”
Giving his take on the star-press relationship, Mahesh Bhatt says, “I firmly believe that in this age of spectacle, survival belongs to the sincere. We live in an age poisoned by noise. Nothing stands beside truth as an equal force. Let them boycott. Let them invent their storms. An actor’s task remains unchanged: step into the light and speak your truth. Whatever is true, whatever is rooted, survives untouched.”
