Is it true that Indian film actors are victims of a slowly evolving paparazzi culture? Is it unfair that they are not allowed to have any privacy just because they are public figures? Is it a terrible breach of privacy of these actor couples when journalists clamor to know what goes on in their bedrooms in order to satisfy the voyeuristic curiosity of their fans? Shouldn’t they at least have their holiday time to themselves uninterrupted by fans and citizen journalists clicking them away on their cellphones for circulation via MMS.
Do you feel strongly about violation of their private space and time and would you condemn such behavior?
It seems that the actors themselves are not too bothered about these violations of privacy. A couple of recent ads , in fact, seem to suggest that they have no problem about throwing open their private lives for the pleasure of their viewing public.
The first is an advertisement for Lux soap featuring Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan. What is shown on the ad is a game of blindfold – when a couple in their mid 30s play a game of blindfold, it is obviously flirtatious and with a couple like Aishwarya and Abhishek it is highly sensuous. And when people watch this ad, they are not just seeing a nameless beautiful couple but they are definitely seeing them as Aishwarya and Abhishek and I am pretty sure that is very much the intention of the advertisement too. In my opinion the scene is more like sexual foreplay that like an innocent game of blindfold.
And in the Nokia 6700 ad, Priyanka Chopra goes one step further. She does not seem to have a problem with people photographing her when she is partying with gay abandon on her private holiday. Now how can she talk about private time and space when she is actually endorsing and promoting a product specifically for its features which allow you to take clear pictures of celebrities and circulate it through messages.
There are many other ads which feature together actors who are in a relationship and they know that the ad's recall value is enhanced by their being seen together and pandering to public curiosity in their relationship. And they seem to have no qualms about capitalizing on this public interest in their relationship.
Does this mean that they are willing to let you have a glimpse of their private moments as long as they are paid for it?
So tell me again, what is it that these stars have against paparazzi? The thing is you should draw your dainty curtains fully, laces and all, if you want to guard your privacy. You cannot leave it partly open and complain that people are peeping in especially when you yourselves are encouraging them take a peek when it suits you.
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have no sympathy for theses celebreties who turn coats as and when it suits them. you post made me realize one thing. That husband is actually doing me a favor when he controls the remote and changes channels the moment advertisements start. I really used to threaten him of judicioal separation for the offence but I think I'll now smile at him and say 'thank you very much'.
jokes apart you have a point. You cannot complain of public attention if you are open to featuring in in third class reality show and advertisements that are suggestive.
haha I love this post . Youre right Usha . I happened to find the ad odd too . She might aactually end up encouraging people and then complaining !
I boycott all celebrities and their shows...TV programs, ads, stage shows and all, except ARR in the Oscars. I watched the entire show and jumped up and down...
To all celebrities cribbing about invasion of privacy - "You made the bed; now lie in it"...
Hi Usha,
Celebrities all around the world have this privacy issue. What they don't realize is that people being interested in them is what commands them their multi-million dollar paychecks. Isn't this just one of their occupational hazards? If they can't deal with this, then they can choose a different profession.
Regards,
SS
Oh you're so right, They want to capitalize on their relationship and then crib about not having privacy.
And then arent there those celebrities who cherish their privacy and will protect it with all they have? Aamir Khan to a certain extent, Michael Douglas, AR Rahman - no one knows when these guys went on a holiday or what they eat for breakfast
Some celebs do seem to exploit the media when it suits them to, and then complain loudly!
All I can say is...thank goodness I am not a celebrity....that I neither have to expose myself or my lifestyle for money, and that I need feel exposed to the media otherwise. No one but my family and friends cares what I do, and that's the way I would like it.
deponti-on-LJ
What you are saying is that people living in glass houses should not throw..tantrums at the paparazzi. Quite.
One of these days, I intend following one of the members of the paparazzi tribe for an entire day, observe their techniques, their methods, etc. " A day in the life of a nosey-parker" will be the title of the film.
I am firmly convinced that none of these fancy people have ANY privacy issues. Its all about money, and they will do and say whatever, no questions asked.
Sometimes I think they may be even organizing the crowds that are supposedly pestering them.
Abhiskek and Aishwarya have been supposedly paid 25 crores for this ad.
Has Indian industry lost its senses ? Or the shareholders their guts ?
This confuses me. I feel when they are being paid for something and permit that part of their life (even a part that they normally won't appreciate being photographed) it's different from somebody stalking them and taking their pictures.
But then one is never sure how much of what one hears is true, sometimes it seems they protest only to get some more attention...
Hipgran: I don't watch half the programs but love watching the ads especially those with kids in them.
I also believe that advertising companies do a lot of market research on current trends and opinions in order make their ads acceptable to their audience. So in that sense I also see them as a reflection of society. And believe me, many ads are more interesting than the programs themselves. My current favorite is the Surf Daag achche hain one.
Mrs G:I found it shocking that she is actually endorsing a product for its snoopability. Isnt this a crime in some parts of the world?
Imagination:I can imagine you saying the last line while jumping up and down. hehehe. And when they lie in the bed they made, let them be prepared for somebody to photograph them from their Nokia cellphone!
SS:While I personally condemn the voyeuristic interest of public in the private lives of celebrities, I feel that they should send the right signals and make an effort to guard their privacy. And not say: we'll tell you when you can watch and rest of the time it is a crime.
PH: And I am told that out-of-work actors welcome ANY kind of publicity just to be in public memory.
Kivina:Yes there are and when these people complain I understand. To an extent I think even Amitabh is very private.
Deponti:Yes, yes and yes.
Raj:hahahah. And I will follow you and watch it all through my latest Nokia phone.
Ugich: That is exactly the ad I am talking about- 25 crores? Just to watch them play blindfold. Enough to feed a small country for a month! Looks like this is a world gone mad! And if a product needs to spend so much on one advertisement to make people buy it, I am not too sure about its inherent quality.
IHM: Let them talk about loss of income for that shot and object on those grounds and then I will buy it. But here they talk about their NEED for privacy and sound like martyrs when they talk about voyeuristic interest of people in their private life, so who started it? YOu give them a peek , they want more!
And have you seen the ad for NOKIA. The guy has shot pictures of priyanka on HOLIDAY and is circulating it on MMS.And Ms. chopra is blithely endorsing the product with some of her best poses precisely for this feature.
I saw the advert just yesterday and felt bayangara koocham. But then they obviosuly don't feel any!
The exclusivity, the aura of a star has long diminished because they dance at people's weddings, on stage shows, sell soaps and shampoos (The only product Bachchan Snr is yet to sell is tampons)appear on election eve for canvassing, product endorsement, third rate reality shows, and many telly appearances and so on.
It's a vicious culture-we don't have a tenacious papparazzi or a well manipulated celebrity profile in the media as is in the West perhaps, but slowly we are getting there.
I posted my comment ystd, wonder why it didn't show.
A gentleman once told me, a product doing good business doesn't need advertising. But, if the product can associate itself with another brand like a celebrity, then profits become ten fold (of course this is after increasing the price of the product ten times) and the brand ambassadors get huge money for this. So "anything" for that share!
Hype the celebrity, hype the ad, product will sell itself. We have enuf fools to buy the ad and the product.
The film and ad industry works on a simple mantra "Out of sight, out of mind" and constant sight in the same avtaar is boring to the consumer and hence all this circus.
Consumer/audience kaathula poo.
Usha, if Abhishek and Ash were in a movie and not in the add and were told to do a bedroom scene, would you object then too?? Couples who are also actors might need to show reel affection too but I do not believe that it is a part of their private lives. What I cannot stand is the way the there are rumours from time to time in the press of ash being pregnant...now that is violation of her privacy....what does her being pregnant or not have to do with her prefessional life. If I were her, I would be livid at these suggestions...actress that she is, I think she handles it with a lot of tact and diplomacy. Yesterday I was watching a telecaste of a press conference of Saif and Kareena and the obnoxiuos Vir Sanghvi was asking them questions about their relationship...Saif was a bit too frank and Kareena mumbled "don't embarass me..." I changed the channel as I found it very unpleasant...it would have been more interesting if they had talked about their forthcoming movie, ofcourse Vir S was more intersted in their affair!
Maami: AB sr. hasn't sold tampons yet! I think it is an oversight - or may be no one approached him. Otherwise from his side there would be no objection to sell anything!!
Praveen:Kaathai kamichindirunda ein Poo vekka maatanga? The fault is as much in the person willingly falling prey to this. Both the celebrity models and the product companies are laughing their way to the bank while consumer/audience is happy with the flower behind his ear.
Diya: If they palyed other characters in a film I am willing to see them as characters in a story. But in an ad, they are Aishwarya and Abhishek.
Yes I saw that show with Vir and I was wondering what these two were doing at a "Leadership summit'. And as you say the questions were less about their professional success stories but more about how they met and fell in love.
Pardon me, but I think that you are nitpicking on the Ash and Abhi ad. Just because they feature in an ad doesnt mean that they are welcoming others to have a peek into their lives. I must say that they are one of the couples who have kept mum on their relationship. There was an ad featuring Akshay Kumar chasing a girl. By your reasoning, does it mean that he is trying to portray that he is open to chasing girls even after marriage because he features as himself in it? There was an ad with Aamir and Gul Panag as husband and wife. Does it mean that Aamir and Gul are actually a couple just because they featured in an ad? Advertisements are also a dramatizations. Most of the ads that come out today are mediocre but still its fine as long as there is nothing vulgar in it.
I love your posts but sometimes I feel there is a lot of cynicism in it. Just my view. I really dont see the big deal at least in the two ads that you pointed out.
Anon: As the tagline of this blog says these are just my views as I see them from where I am. And this is how I felt when I saw these ads. I have no personal issues with Abhi or Aishwarya. Curiosity about their private life is something that comes with celebrity-hood and particularly so when they are film stars.I just feel that they need to be a bit responsible and send the right signals if they want to avoid overt attention to their private lives. Finally of course it is their lives and their choice.
The Nokia ad is certainly something Priyanka will rue if she is 'spotted' ona holiday and her private moments are circulated via MMS.
one part of me agrees that we go too far with TVCs and stars endorse anything these days. Remm teh SRK TVC for lux? that was the worst!
but then the other part says that you have much more intimate scenes in movies, then where's teh prob?
The irony is that when tehy wish to pose, tehy'd even go the full monty for the camera. but when they dont, even a single flash goes down as intrusion of privacy!
Can't believe these are your views.. I thought the ad was beautifully made. There's professional life and then, there is personal life. Ad films are a part of a celebrity's professional life. The celebrities complain when their private lives are invaded.
Disappointing!
Maxdavinci:On the one hand they claim that they want privacy on the other Priyanka openly endorses a product which shows pictures of her caught holidaying. I don't understand this.
Yespi: I am not disputing that the ads are beautifully made.
you made some good points Usha and it was all new to me because we rarely watch TV at my place :-/
Celebrities know they don't have a private life and suit themselves when it comes to money! It's a fake life they lead atleast for the outside world. Why do we even worry or think about them?
its hypocrisy!!
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