MUMBAI, Dec. 7 -- While veteran actor and Rajya Sabha MP from Samajwadi Party Jaya Bachchan's comment on celebrity photojournalists, arbitrarily called paparazzi or paps, in a recent interview on We The Women with journalist Barkha Dutt provoked social media backlash, it also called attention to the complex relationship between "paps" and Bollywood celebrities. While stating that her relationship with the "media is fantastic" she demanded to know: "Who are these people? You call them media?" She questioned the reputation of the men who are known to flock outside celeb homes and airports in "drainpipe type trousers with a mobile in their hands". Jaya's open derision towards press photographers did not spare those from her own tribe either, as she said, "If you have to call people to the airport to click your photo, what kind of a celebrity are you?" Ironically, as Bollywood today stands in a precarious position as a crucial stakeholder in the business of Indian cinema, where a major chunk of the players - some bona fide, others surviving on the periphery - are seeking validation through social media, these lensmen are a lifeline. And hence, getting "papped" is a culture which is as much the industry's creation as it is social media's. Whether they are at airports, salons, premieres, parties or even prayer meetings, Bollywood celebrities come alive only when photographers' lenses are trained on them. Following Jaya Bachchan's recent outburst, celebrity photojournalist Manav Manglani said, "She is a senior, and I have asked my team not to click Jayaji. We, members of the paparazzi, know our limits. But we are bearing the brunt of YouTubers and other private vloggers and influencers, who have joined the trade. They are known to cause commotion and we get unnecessarily shamed." Jaya, and a few weeks earlier, Sunny Deol lashing out at the media for flawed reporting of his father Dharmendra's death not withstanding said an influencer, who did not wish to be named, "90 percent of Bollywood is still surviving only because the paparazzi is wooing them". "Believe me, it is not the lensmen that are chasing the actors; it is definitely the other way around," she said. While the culture crept into Bollywood back in the '70s with actors such as Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna among others, politely posing for the cameras before entering a film set, by the '90s film stars often felt overwhelmed by the intrusion. Some learnt the craft of covering their faces and making hasty exits, remembered a reigning star of the time, Manisha Koirala. It received a shot in the arm with the upsurge and popularity of social media platforms, and post-pandemic these platforms became the purveyors of news breaks and a gauge of popularity graphs. "Today, a celebrity will go to any lengths to appear on the Instagram pages of paid influencers and paparazzi. It is their way of staying alive in a fickle world. We pay the paps and influencers big money to keep our clients 'spotted' at airports, events and even below their own homes because very often it is a diktat from them. Believe me, the pap is not asking for it, but the celebrity is demanding it," said a YouTuber. Significantly, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt cut their birthday cakes on September 28 last year and March 15 this year, respectively only with members of the paparazzi. Akshay Kumar is known to host them for lunches before the release of every new film, Shilpa Shetty distributes boxes of sweets to them during Ganpati, Rakul Preet Singh invites them to special occasions in the compound of her own building, Kareena Kapoor Khan ensures that her PR machinery informs the lensmen about her travel plans and Ajay Devgn has them ready to shoot him at the private airport when he jets out. Kareena's camaraderie however was re-negotiated, following her husband Saif Ali Khan's stabbing in their own apartment in January this year. Fearing for the safety of her children-Taimur and Jeh, she sent a request to the photographers asking them to refrain from photographing her kids. In March this year, Ranbir and Alia held a special press conference at a five-star hotel in Mumbai where they too put forward a request asking the lensmen not to photograph their daughter Raha. Recently they also asked that their home Krishna-Raj on Pali Hill not be photographed. Of course, that did not stop the celebrity couple from continuing with cake-cutting events with the lensmen. They are also known to send out gifts to the photographers during Diwali. A new sub-culture has emerged - the paparazzi must know their boundaries, and in turn they will be suitably rewarded. Manglani, a leading influencer apart from being a much sought-after lensmen with an Instagram following of 7.2 million, said: "I have asked my team to never try and click a celebrity who does not wish to be clicked." Another influencer, who did not wish to be named, and who makes a living through taking celebrity pictures, said: "I do not understand celebrities complaining about us. When their films are about to be released, they woo us. Their publicist begs us to post their pictures. And, suddenly one day, they want to shun us. How is this possible? Haven't they heard the saying-if you live by the knife, you will die by it. We cannot change our stance according to star-moods. We refrain from being intrusive, but we object to being treated as if we are vermin."...