A wild pack of er..photographers with expensive equipment dangling precariously from their outstretched hands trying to hold on to the windows of an ambulance. An ambulance taking the near-hysterical, very troubled Britney Spears to a hospital in L.A. The image is of the hunter and the hunted and the words that flash through our minds  when we think paparazzi (much like the blinding flash of their cameras) are ‘pack’ ‘hunt’, ‘chase’ and ‘kill’.

After this incident, Nick Stern, a ‘pap’ of the celebrity picture agency Splash, quit his job stating that the paparazzi were putting Britney’s life at risk by their aggressive behaviour. He told ‘The Guardian’ that “the paps are completely out of control and it is not unusual to have 30 cars pursuing her at any one time.”

Worldwide, there is much sympathy now for the once-cute pop star and anger for the paps who chase her relentlessly.

One only hopes that no Indian celebrity faces this kind of torture. There was a time in India when celeb spotting was an activity confined to film magazines. Psychologists declared confidently that Indians will never hanker so much for celebrity gossip. And that there never will be a paparazzi culture in the country. This unfortunately is changing and changing fast.

Last month, a Mumbai-based afternoon daily took a snap of Mallika Sherawat in a burqa at the airport and the photograph was projected as THE scoop of the week. In the same month, an international glossy magazine carried pictures of model Upen Patel kissing his girlfriend in a swimming pool. It was later reported in the media that the snaps were taken by a freelance photographer when the couple were (obviously) unaware of the camera. Pictures of Abhi-ash’s wedding, taken perhaps by clever relatives and friends, were sold like hot cakes to many media houses and online publications. Packs of photographers camped for nearly two days outside the Bachchan household while the wedding was on.  A mobile-phone picture of Yuvraj Singh and Deepika Padukone having a quiet dinner together in Australia was the lead photo on the front page of some newspapers. Saif and Kareena, the hottest new couple about town, cannot go anywhere without eager snappers trailing them and TV channels reporting breathlessly, on the hour, every half hour, whether Kareena is wearing a solitaire and if Saif’s tattoo is visible or not. And of course, whether ‘jilted’ Shahid’s puppy-brown eyes are wet while watching Saif and Kareena dance.

Peeping Toms
Just goes to show that the paparazzi culture has ceased to be an alien concept in a country where voyeurism is suddenly being celebrated in international celebrity magazines and 24/7 ‘news’ channels. “Page 3 is Page 1 and reporters are encouraged to become Peeping Toms. The tabloid culture has hit us hard and celebs have no escape from the constant scrutiny,” says Varsha Nene, a journalist working for an international celebrity magazine in Mumbai.

Celebrated columnist Peter Preston, while analysing this culture of voyeurism, says, “Pictures of carnage in Rawalpindi or violence in Darfur don’t engage us because this is distant desolation, where we, in our living rooms, have no direct role. But when it comes to a tear-stained celebrity’s life, we are the howling mob around the arena. Those photographers are working for us. Britney, for instance, is a deluded 26-year-old who has lost her bearings. We are queueing up for a peek and a snigger.” He goes on to call the present era as an era of cruelty where we are “routinely, ubiquitously callous”.

Which is perhaps why, a Shahid’s distress or a Kareena’s happiness becomes our new spectator sport.