All lines were crossed: Alia Bhatt lashes out at paparazzi secretly clicking and leaking her photos

On Tuesday, renowned Indian actor Alia Bhatt took to her social media to express her anger at paparazzi leaking private photos of her. A page had shared clicks of Alia in her living room, visible through a window of her house. The photos had been taken from a neighbouring building. The post shared on an Indian outlet is no longer available.

Sharing a screenshot of the post featuring the photos in a now-deleted Instagram Story, Alia had written, “Are you kidding me? I was in my house having a perfectly normal afternoon in my living room when I felt something watching me. I looked up and saw two men on the terrace of my neighbouring building with a camera right at me!” The Gangubai Kathiyawadi actor asked, “In what world is this okay and allowed? This is a gross invasion of someone’s privacy. There is a line you just cannot cross and it’s safe to say all line were crossed today!” Alia went on to tag Mumbai Police in her note.

Many of her contemporaries expressed their disgust at the lengths at which some people would go to stalk actors in the name of reporting. Fellow actors Anushka Sharma and Jahnvi Kapoor even shared their own experience of their privacy being violated in a similar manner. Sharing a screenshot of Alia’s Story, Anushka lashed out, “This is not the first time they are doing this. About two years ago we called them out for the same reason! You'd think it would have made them more respectful of people’s space and privacy. Absolutely shameful! They were also the only guys posting photos of our daughter despite repeated requests."

Janhvi recalled how the same portal had shared photos of her clicked through a glass door of a gym while she was working out. “This is disgustingly intrusive. This publication has repeatedly done things like this. Including, despite my continuous requests, photographed me unaware; inside the gym I go to while working out through the glass door. In a space that is supposed to be private, where one does not anticipate to get photographed.”

She added, “I understand showing up to places, and in plain sight doing your job. Where there is a mutual understanding of the job of the photographers, and the job and requirements of being a public figure. This stealthiness, zooming into someone's private space without their consent or even awareness and calling it exclusive as if it's a journalistic accomplishment is far from it.”

Arjun Kapoor called it what it was -- stalking. He wrote, "Absolutely shameless. This is crossing all limits if a woman isn't feeling safe in her own home forget if she is a public figure or not for a second any sane person who takes photographs of public figures for a living needs to know that this is pathetic conduct & these are people in the media we have trusted and shown implicit faith in believing they are here to do a job not to make women feel unsafe or invade one's privacy. This is nothing short of stalking.”

Karan Johar also chimed in noting, “There is no justification to this absolutely disgusting invasion of privacy. Everyone from the entertainment industry is always for the media and the paparazzi and are accommodating. But there has to be a limit! This is about anyone's right to feel safe in their own homes! This is not about actors or celebrities it's a basic human right.”

Swara Bhasker too called out the portal. “This is shameless and a criminal violation of Alia Bhatt’s privacy and totally not okay. Shame on you.”

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