Taapsee Pannu has had a few heated exchanges with the paparazzi in Mumbai in the past. Over the years, netizens in the comments section have frequently referred to her as ‘Jaya Bachchan-lite’ and in a recent interview, Taapsee said that she sees it as a compliment. Jaya Bachchan also shares a feisty relationship with the paparazzi.

In a chat with , Taapsee Pannu said, “I think that’s a compliment. I only look at the brighter side. She’s a very good actor and a very solid woman. People are being too kind by comparing me to her. To be honest, I really don’t care. I know that I haven’t ever raised my voice at anybody. That’s not what I do.”

She further added, “I don’t abuse anybody. My boundaries are very clear. And a woman with very clear boundaries is very intimidating. My sense of right and wrong is very clear in front of them and they don’t like that. I’m supposed to be a little more submissive and extra polite. I, in fact, am shouted at by them. I don’t like that.”

Taapsee said that she does not appreciate the tone that the photographers use to shout her name. “After I grew up, nobody has ever shouted at me apart from my parents. They keep yelling, ‘Taapsee! Taapsee! Taapsee!’. If you’re standing close to me, why do you want to shout? I’ve never used that tone back at them, which I should ideally. Even after that, if they choose to call me angry, they may not know what the definition of the word is,” she said.

Taapsee added that when she feels angry, she tends to shut down. “When I’m truly angry, I shut down, go quiet and look through you. I don’t engage with people I’m angry with. I know myself. I’ve been respectful. These taglines that they use are all for clicks. Anybody who can look at the situation sensibly will know that,” she said.

She also claimed that her reactions are often used as “clickbait” by paparazzi pages. “If the caption says that Taapsee was so nice and sweet, nobody will click on it. Nobody would care about that. People will be curious only if the tagline says that Taapsee was angry and that she snapped. This is clickbait and it’s helping them run their pages. I’m helping them get views. I’m glad that I’ve some impact on their lives,” she said.

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When Jaya Bachchan said she has ‘zero’ respect for paparazzi

Jaya Bachchan has also called out the paparazzi for their conduct in the past. The veteran actor has previously said that while she deeply respects traditional journalism, noting her father was a journalist, but her relationship with the modern paparazzi is “zero”. In a chat with Barkha Dutt at Mojo Story’s event We The Women, “My relationship with media is fantastic, I am the product of media. But my relationship with paparazzi is zero. Who are these people? Are they trained to be representing the people of this country? You call them media? I come from media, my father was a journalist. I have immense, tremendous respect for such people.”

 

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She added, “But yeh jo bahar gande, tight pant pehnke, hath mein mobile leke (they were cheap tight pants and have a mobile in their hand), they think 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 people? Kahan se aate hain, kis tarah ka education hai? Kya background hai? They will represent us? Just because they can get through to YouTube or whatever social platform?”

The comments received some criticism for paparazzi. Photographer Varinder Chawla told Siddharth Kannan in an interview that they were “very hurt” by Jaya’s comments. “We personally felt very bad about her remarks against my employees. All of us were hurt. There are multiple ways to express your views, but this was not the way to do it,” he said.