Paparazzo recalls media ban on Amitabh Bachchan post Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai's wedding: 'Amar Singh's security badly treated them'

The unprecedented decision by press photographers to ban megastar Amitabh Bachchan, completely sidelining him and his family from visual coverage, remains a significant episode in Bollywood history. Bollywood paparazzo Varinder Chawla recently recounted this period, which followed the wedding of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in 2007.
Abhishek and Aishwarya's wedding took place in a private ceremony at the Bachchan residence, Prateeksha.Despite grand arrangements to keep the media at bay, controversy erupted when members of the press covering the event on the ground claimed they were manhandled by the security staff of the late politician Amar Singh, a then close associate of the Bachchan family.
In an interview with Hindi Rush, Varinder Chawla detailed the wedding's chaotic atmosphere and the media fallout. "The family had not invited media, but we were covering it anyway," he explained. "I was stationed outside their house. We knew the points from where we could get pictures, such as the entry area, but they parked a bus there, blocking the entire view of the media. 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 a glimpse, the security treated them badly and attacked the media. A lot of media persons were hurt."

Varinder recalled that the tension between the media and the Bachchan family escalated into a conflict, leading the media to declare a ban on photographing any Bachchan family members. "I had never seen such a big media ban. They had banned everyone, from Amitabh ji, Jaya ji, and Abhishek to Aishwarya," he said.
The unity among photographers was strong, and the ban lasted for a considerable time. Varinder described how photographers would refuse to click Amitabh Bachchan whenever he appeared at events. "When the Bachchan family would come for some events, photographers would place their cameras down or up in the air as a sign of protest. If Bachchan saab was at an event and a call for a group picture was made, the moment he came forward, the photographers would lift their cameras up. They would click the person next to Bachchan saab, but not him."

The prolonged ban eventually led Amitabh Bachchan to realize the negative impact it had on his image and business. Chawla recounted that Bachchan called for a personal meeting at the JW Marriott hotel, inviting the entire media. "Only after that meeting was the ban lifted," Varinder concluded.