Hardik Pandya blasts paparazzi for shooting inappropriate video of his girlfriend Mahieka Sharma

Dubai: Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya slammed the paparazzi for allegedly capturing inappropriate photographs of his girlfriend, Mahieka Sharma.

In a social-media post, Pandya called the incident “disrespectful” and “intrusive,” explaining that Mahieka was simply walking down a staircase at a Bandra restaurant when photographers chose an angle “no woman deserves to be photographed from.” He criticised the episode as “cheap sensationalism,” noting that although public life invites attention, this crossed a line.

Pandya urged the media to respect personal boundaries. “This isn’t about headlines or who clicked what — it’s about basic respect,” he wrote. “Women deserve dignity. Everyone deserves boundaries. To the media brothers who work hard every day: I respect your hustle, and I always cooperate. But please be more mindful. Not everything needs to be captured, not every angle needs to be taken. Let’s keep some humanity in this game.”

This is not the first time a celebrity has raised concerns about intrusive paparazzi behaviour.

Veteran actress Jaya Bachchan, known for her outspoken reactions to photographers, has also criticised what she calls the increasingly invasive “pap culture.”

Speaking at the We The Women Asia event in Mumbai, she described today’s paparazzi scene as “strange” and questioned its ethics and professionalism.

Bachchan drew a clear line between the media and paparazzi, saying she holds great respect for journalism but shares “zero” relationship with paparazzi.

“My relationship with the media is fantastic — I’m a product of the media. But my relationship with the paparazzi is zero,” she said, questioning whether they are trained or qualified to represent the public.

“I come from the media. My father was a journalist. I have immense respect for such people,” she added.