Nowadays, it’s common to hear about celebrities being assaulted. Whether it’s Prithvi Shaw or the famous singer Sonu Nigam, everyone is fed up with being surrounded by media. Recently, actress Alia Bhatt posted a story on Instagram that mentioned that her picture was taken without her consent while chilling in her house. These viral incidents make us question the Indian psyche.
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The Right to Privacy for celebs
The paparazzi continue to overstep their boundary and invade celebrities’ privacy. Every citizen has the right to privacy as per Article 21 added to the Constitution of India in 2017. According to the law, every citizen of India has the right “to be left alone,” and invading anyone’s privacy is a punishable offence. The incident that recently made headlines violated the “right to privacy.”
Concerning this incident, psychiatrist Dr Rajendra Barve said, “Not just voyeurism, but even exhibitionism has replaced rationalism in today’s society.” Further, he stated, the public cannot be blamed here solely for this act. We live in a world that is dominated by social media.
Various platforms are used by celebrities to share their private and family moments. All these things encourage the public to get more insights into their favourite celebrities’ life, as it is free entertainment for them.
Indian film director and producer Vivek Agnihotri responded following the statement by saying, “Celebrities should avoid paying paparazzi to spot them in public places, this is a race to get publicity, and it’s hard to draw boundaries.”
Vivek made a valid point by stating so. It is true that many celebrities’ PR teams inform the photographers or pay them to catch them in public places. Celebrities are often seen flaunting their airport looks. They love to be acknowledged by their fans in public.
The act of voyeurism is aided by today’s advanced technology, as smartphones and internet connections are easily accessible. In the earlier era, knowing about celebrities’ private lives was a hard task. But today, celebrities themselves give updates on their routines via social media.
Still, there are a few stars like Jaya Bachchan who get crossed whenever they encounter paparazzi in public.
Celebs Came Together to Condemn the Incident
Dr Barve says, “Alia has every right to complain.” As in this case, she never prompted anyone to take her pictures. It was purely non-consensual and a real invasion, following this incident many celebrities came to support Alia. RJ Malishka said, “Celebrity or not, every person has the right to privacy since it’s our fundamental right.”
Vivek said, “The incident that took place with Alia is very uncivilized; she has been very private with her life in the past few years.” “It’s a very unethical act to invade her privacy.”
“It’s wrong to click someone’s picture suddenly without informing them; such acts are an invasion of privacy regardless of whether the person is a celeb or not,” said actress Adaa Khan.
These incidents force us to think about whether we need the intervention of the law to control these paparazzi and avert the media houses from supporting them by buying such private photos. Indeed, filmmaker Vivek emphasised the importance of having strict privacy laws in place because voyeurism and paparazzi pose a threat to celebrities’ private lives.
Dr Mohan Agashe, an actor, director, producer, and psychiatrist, showed his concern for this incident and said, “We should pay serious attention to this as it affects our mental health.”
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