Sudhanshu Pandey has been called Salman Khan on television in recent years. His popularity has grown in leaps and bounds ever since ‘Anupamaa’ was released. The show’s success has brought him immense fame, which was long overdue for the actor who has been in the film and television industry for over two decades.
With immense fame comes the necessary evils of being followed everywhere by the paparazzi. Talking to Prateek Sur from Outlook, Sudhanshu Pandey speaks up about the entire paparazzi culture in India. Excerpts:
What’s your take on the paparazzi culture?
I think the paparazzi culture is there all across the globe because it’s the need of the hour. It’s the paparazzi’s job and their bread and butter. They need celebrities as much as celebrities need them. So, it’s a professional job and I think there is nothing wrong with it.
Most celebs are good to paparazzi, but many celebs have at times in the past been rude as well to them, and that too when these paps are just doing their jobs. Have you ever faced a situation where you were not that happy to see paps clicking your pictures?
I rarely go out to functions and when I am going to a function, I know there is going to be media and paparazzi. No, I don’t get surprised when that happens. I am already prepared for it. So, I don’t feel unhappy about it.
Also, the other way around is that paparazzi need celebs as much as celebs need paparazzi. Celebs’ PR team gives out details to the paps so that they can get clicked outside airports or events. Do you also believe in doing so?
I know for a fact that a lot of actors have the culture of their PR teams informing the paparazzi when they are travelling so that they can get clicked and their moment can be documented and be splashed all over the media. I personally do not believe in that so much.
Does it help to have paps follow celebs around always, and have your photos and videos splashed online or in print every day? Does it help to be in the news always? Does being in the news always translate to getting more work (films/shows/etc)?
It’s okay to do that at times but I don’t believe in the fact that because you are being seen all the time and people following you and taking your photographs and videos and spreading it online, it doesn’t translate into work. If that is how it is supposed to be, then I guess you don’t need to work hard on your skills, you need not go for meetings, and all you need to do is have a PR team who is going to have the paparazzi waiting at the airport for photographs and get work. I don’t think that works.
What about public relations (PR)?
PR does help as people want to see their favourite people and it should be done in a good fashion. There should be a line between professional and personal life and that is something that one needs to follow.
Does it feel good to be good clicked always or do you feel your privacy is being hampered if paps follow you around throughout the day?
At some point in time if the paparazzi are crossing the line where a celebrity’s personal life is getting hampered and disturbed which they do not want to show to the rest of the world and they are not comfortable with it, then the paparazzi should respect the personal spaces of the actors also because, at the end of the day, we all are human beings and want to keep our personal life personal.
