Jaya Bachchan blasts paparazzi, says they behave like 'rats' with mobile phones: 'They will represent us?'

Veteran actor Jaya Bachchan’s disdain for the paparazzi is no secret. Clips of her bristling at photographers often go viral—especially when she feels provoked for a reaction, as she has said before. In an unfiltered conversation with journalist Barkha Dutt at #WeTheWomen, Bachchan revisited her long-standing discomfort with the culture of relentless celebrity photography, calling it a “strange” and deeply intrusive space she refuses to accept as normal.

For someone who has spent decades in front of the camera, Bachchan insists her relationship with the press is built on respect and integrity. “My relationship with media is fantastic, I am the product of media. But my relationship with paparazzi is zero. Who are these people? Are they trained to be representing the people of this country? You call them media? I come from media, my father was a journalist. I have immense, tremendous respect for such people.”

But the paparazzi, according to her, operate by a different rulebook—one that disregards personal boundaries entirely. She didn’t hesitate to express her outrage at how easily privacy can now be invaded.

“But yeh jo bahar gande, tight pant pehnke, hath mein mobile leke,” she said, gesturing toward the growing crowd culture around celebrities, “they think just because they have a mobile, they can take your picture and say what they want. And, the kind of comments they pass! What kind of people are these? Kahan se aate hain, kis tarah ka education hai? Kya background hai? They will represent us? Just because they can get through to YouTube or whatever social platform?” (Where do they come from, what is their education?)

The blunt comparison that followed stunned the audience. She referred to intrusive paparazzi as “rats”, capable of sneaking into private spaces through nothing more than a camera phone. “It’s very interesting – one of my staff in Delhi said that she doesn’t use any social network because I am the most hated person on social media. I said that I don’t care, I don’t give a damn. You hate me, it’s your opinion. My opinion is that I dislike you immensely. You think that you can be like a chuha (rat) who can get into somebody’s house with a mobile camera.”

Bachchan also criticised a trend she finds deeply troubling—the rising wave of celebrities allegedly staging their own paparazzi appearances, especially at airports. She questioned what fame even means if it has to be manufactured.

“I don’t know them. I don’t know whoever you are talking about. My grandson (Agastya Bachchan) is also young, but he is not on any social network. If you have to call people to take your photos at the airport, what kind of celebrity are you?”