Veteran actress and parliamentarian Jaya Bachchan has once again made headlines for her statements. The actress, who often draws attention for her interactions with the paparazzi, recently opened up about what she thinks of the group. Her comments on paparazzi culture have led to widespread backlash from the online community. Now, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit has also criticised the actress, stating that she has no right to demean another profession.
Ashoke Pandit calls out Jaya Bachchan
Ashoke Pandit, the president of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association, took to Instagram to call out Jaya for her remarks against the paparazzi. He penned a post sharing his thoughts on Bachchan’s statements and captioned it, “Not very parliamentarian, JayaBachchan ji.”
Pandit stated that Jaya’s comment on the paparazzi reeked of “snobbish elitism.”
“Jaya Bachchan ji’s statement against the paparazzi reeks of snobbish elitism. To criticise the aggressive coverage of certain paps is one thing, but to demean the profession altogether, laced with downright classist remarks, is unbecoming of such a senior member of our film industry and a parliamentarian,” read his note.
The note continued, “They’re hardworking professionals doing their job, and most of the time, they’re called by the stars and their PR teams themselves. So if she has such a strong opinion against the paparazzi culture, it’s time to look inwards rather than indulge in this misplaced outrage.”
What did Jaya Bachchan say about paparazzi culture?
The veteran actress was speaking at the We The Women event in Mumbai over the weekend.
When asked about her relationship with the paparazzi, Jaya said, “It is strange. I am a product of the media, but my relationship with the paparazzi is zero. Who are these people? Are they trained to represent the people of this country? You call them media? I come from media! My father was a journalist. I have tremendous respect for such people.”
She added, “Magar ye jo baahar drain pipe pant, gande-gande kapde pehen ke haath me mobile leke… they think that 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 ki education hai? Kya background hai? Will they represent us? Just because they can go through social media?”