Paparazzi Fear-Rahil Azam

Sneaking into the private lives of celebrities is de riguer in the western countries. Exposing Bollywood secrets is gaining momentum here and paparazzi journalism seems to have found its illegitimate place. Filming celebs in compromising and awkward positions. The competition of 24/7 news channels keeps them hounding the stars and sometimes even look-alikes are used to circulate and tarnish the image of established stars like the case of Mallika Sherawat and Riya Sen. Recently, Smriti Irani's miscarriage was used as a full blown article while it's a highly personal issue.

Hidden or candid cameras and mobile phone cameras have become the bane of celebrities and boon of the wannabes who stand to benefit by this culture. For them it's a passport to the hall of fame and recognition, albeit five-minutes.

Have the publicity-hungry stars brought it upon themselves by letting them be photographed? Gita Hari asks some people from tellywood for their opinions.

RAHIL AZAM : "I am a private person and I don't like my personal life to be spread on the papers. To some extent the papparazi cult has caught up with us but not to the extent it is abroad." When Rahil's grandmother passed away, he was hounded by the media for bytes, but he refused saying it was too personal to be written about and the media respected that.