A Day In A Life Of A Paparazzi

For most of us, the word "paparazzi" is quite often perceived as an annoying cameraman. A person who follows famous people and constantly clicks their scandalous shots is a paparazzi. We often see videos of them ganging up around celebrities for a perfect picture. "Paps" are someone who are also resented by some of our favourite celebrities as well, but believe me the so-called Bollywood can hardly exist without these people. Bollywood needs them as much as we people who want to stay connected to our favourite stars.

It is hard to believe, but the life of a “pap” is not even as close to as glamorous as it looks. Someone who is on the bike 24/7 with 2 or 3 backpacks full of cameras, lenses hanging by his side, keeping up with the scorching heat while wandering around the streets of Mumbai. Maybe, this is how a man on a mission looks like. Frequently being up to date with a celebrity’s whereabouts, from following cars to remembering the digits on their number plates. They regularly hustle for these pieces of information.

There's cut-throat competition in this kind of media businesses. Everyone wants to get the perfect picture. And by everyone I mean the celebrities and the paparazzi themselves, they co-exist. The moment a picture of a Bollywood star is captured it has to reach the boss who publishes it before any of their rivals does. The picture loses its value within 10 to 15 minutes after being clicked but if luckily your picture hops in first then chances are that it might get sold for a good sum of money.

The day of a paparazzi starts roughly around 9 am or even before and probably you'll find them waiting near a famous gym, a well-known resto bar, clubs, parties etc. There is always a boss guy under whom there are around 8 to 10 people working and running throughout for the pictures. A guy is constantly outside airports to specifically get the “Airport” shots. These people are constantly on the run juggling between camera, cars and sd cards. Living within their short tea breaks, which are close to non-existent in case if any person they have to follow shows up. A person who often lands in trouble dealing with people who aren't in a mood to pose for their steady but trembling cameras, fall on their faces pushing each other through the crowd. It’s a rough life with a market full of photographers all of them eagerly searching for one perfect picture that make their living for the day.

"Madam look this way!", "Smile for us once", "A quick pose please?” repeating the same lines for more than 10 times a day but every time at a different location.

The life behind the camera can be quite stressful. "It is a mad rush, we have to cruise from one venue to another, meeting the same people every evening and still trying to make them look different. Also braving the bouncers and personal bodyguards, forgetting the fun that happens at a party, fobbing off persistent party goer's who'd do just about anything to get their pictures clicked for the newspaper... but for us, it's a job" says a photographer in an interview with Quint Neon.

It's even more difficult for them to explain their jobs to people and their families. A job where you might have to climb a tree or hide somewhere to get your work done, sometimes disrupting someone’s private space even though you don't want to.

There are people who start this job and quit by the second day. "It's a job you wouldn't wanna be in at times. There is no time to breathe in this rush let alone a getaway or a dinner with the family" says another paparazzi. The rivals are always ready to swoop in so they constantly have to be on the go.

Well, some do this job because of good money, some do it because they like it and others do it for the perks that comes in with it ( being waved or called out by a celebrity or the goodies that they get during movie promotions).

Of course, it is a job that is quite far fetched from a common man's lifestyle but none of us could disagree that it's equally tough and far more tiresome than a 9 to 5 job in a world that demands more than you earn.

It's pretty difficult to digest that a job can simultaneously be so glamorous and so tiring, surprisingly this not only belongs to just celebrities themselves but also to the people who work behind every “perfect” picture and in spite of the gruelling work that they put, all they ask for is a "Smile please" at the end of the day.