Varinder Chawla renowned Bollywood photographer claimed that the press united against Amitabh Bachchan and his family when his son Abhishek married Aishwarya Rai.
Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai exchanged vows in a small, private ceremony on April 20, 2007, at the family home Prateeksha in Mumbai. The journalists, who were not invited to the lavish ceremony, claimed that they were being physically assaulted by the security of the late politician Amar Singh, who was close to the Bachchan family. In a recent interview, famous paparazzo Virender Chawla recounted the entire episode and disclosed how, following their wedding, the media community united to oppose Amitabh Bachchan and his family and refused to take their pictures at any function.
Speaking to a YouTube channel named Hindi Rush, Virender Chawla revealed the entire view of the media was blocked by the buses. “I was stationed outside their house. We knew the points from where we could get the pictures, such as the entry area, but they parked a bus there. So, the entire view of the media was blocked. When they were coming to Prateeksha from their other bungalow, they had security provided by Amar Singh. When the media ran after breaking the barricade, to catch a glimpse, the security treated them badly and attacked the media. A lot of media persons were hurt, ” he said.
The Bachchan family’s relationship with the media deteriorated, he said, as the latter refused to take pictures of any of the famous family’s members following the embarrassing episode. Chawla added, “I had never seen such a big media ban. They had banned everyone, from Amitabh ji, Jaya ji, Abhishek to Aishwarya. When the Bachchan family would come for some events, photographers would place the camera down or up in the air as a sign of protest. If Bachchan sir was at an event and a call for group picture was made, the moment he would come in front, the photographers would lift their cameras up. They would click the person next to Bachchan saab, but not him.”
Varinder disclosed how the Bachchan family resolved the entire issue. He continued by saying that Bachchan sir invited the whole media to a private conference at the JW Marriott hotel after realizing that this was bad for both his work and personal image – That’s when the lift was removed.
