Amitabh Bachchan faced ‘media ban’ after press was allegedly manhandled at Abhishek-Aishwarya’s wedding, claims paparazzo: ‘They’d put their cameras down’

What was it like for press photographers to ban megastar Amitabh Bachchan, not click him at events and completely sideline him from any visual coverage? Bollywood paparazzo Varinder Chawla has revealed the time when the press had united against Amitabh Bachchan and his family after the wedding of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, and decided to ban them all. Abhishek and Aishwarya tied the knot in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence, Prateeksha, in 2007. The grand wedding arrangements attempted to keep the media glare away, but it eventually led to a big controversy as members of the press covering the event on ground alleged to be manhandled by the security staff of late politician Amar Singh, who was close to the Bachchan family. In an interview with Hindi Rush, Varinder Chawla recalled the wedding and said how the family had not invited media, but they were covering it anyway. “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 the glimpse, they (security) treated them badly and attacked the media. A lot of media persons were hurt.” The paparazzo said the tension between the media and the Bachchan family turned into a full-blown fight and the situation “worsened”, with the media declaring that they would not click pictures of any of Bachchan family members. “I had never seen such a big media ban. They had banned everyone, from Amitabh ji, Jaya ji, Abhishek to Aishwarya,” he recalled. Varinder said there was an unshakeable unity back then and recalled that the ban lasted for a long time. The paparazzo said every time Amitabh Bachchan would show up at an event, the photographers would refuse to click him. “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 saab 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. “This went on for some time and then even he realsied that this was not good for the image as well as the business. Then he called for a personal meeting at JW Marriott hotel, where the entire media was called. Only after that, the ban was lifted,” he added.