At the very start of the recently released Netflix show Dining with the Kapoors, Kareena Kapoor Khan says, “I don’t think we need to tip off the paparazzi. In fact, we tip them to not click us.” She is referring to the Kapoor family. The very next shot is of paparazzi aiming their cameras at Saif Ali Khan and Kareena as they arrive at a family dinner hosted by Raj Kapoor’s grandson Armaan Jain.
Paparazzi reels are hugely popular and the phenomenon quite the talking point in talk shows. To be mobbed or not is considered some sort of a touchstone of success.
Manoj Mahendra Mahara, 32, has been a Mumbai paparazzo for 19 years. He works for Viral Bhayani, a popular paparazzi organisation responsible for flooding social media feeds with videos of celebrities at restaurants, checking in or out of airports or posing on the red carpet.
Mahara is also the lead character of the 25-year-old independent filmmaker Divya Kharnare’s 20-minute documentary titled P for Paparazzi. Kharnare says, “Paparazzi are always peeking into the lives of celebrities. For my film, I wanted to peek into theirs and see what happens.”
But getting hold of a paparazzo and getting one to talk on camera are two different things. Kharnare recalls attending the MAMI film festival wherein he tried to approach a few of them, only to be turned away.
“Just when I had given up hope, I heard a very dramatic voice coming from the centre of the paparazzi pack,” he tells The Telegraph. “The voice shouted, ‘Kartik, Kartik’.” Actor Kartik Aaryan was stepping onto the red carpet for the promotion of his film Satyaprem ki Katha. Kharnare followed the voice and it led him to Mahara.
Says Kharnare, “I pushed through the security and the bouncers to reach him. I could manage only a few words before the bouncers grabbed hold of me again and threw me out.” Those magic words were — “I want to make a film on you, Sir.”
Mahara was incredulous. He said to his questioner: “Mere pe picture banana hai? Mai rahunga tera picture ka hero?... You want to make a film on me? I’ll be the hero of your film?”
As he was dragged away by the bouncers in rather filmi fashion, Kharnare shouted, “Yes, you will be my hero.”
And that’s how it started.
Kharnare and a camera-person tailed Mahara for the next six months. Sometimes Kharnare rode pillion on Mahara’s motorbike and sometimes both followed him in a scooter.
P for Paparazzi opens with a shot of the Mumbai night sky erupting with
Diwali fireworks. On a motorbike, backpack et al, Mahara is chasing leads late at night. He tells a friend, “Mumbai folks probably spend crores on fireworks, all for one night.” All this while, he is on the phone too, trying to arrange for a loan of 2 lakh rupees for his brother’s kidney transplant surgery. Their mother, who is still in Nepal, happens to be the donor.
Mahara says, “The surgery costs 8 lakh. Star log se 6 lakh mil jayega… I just need 2 lakh more.” Then he adds, “I won’t disturb Varun and Alia, they have helped me enough already.”
Mahara knows some of these stars well. He tells The Telegraph, “Check my Instagram handle, Alia Bhatt and many others follow me.”
The film kicks off with the line: “Tip off: RK at airport at 2am” flashing on screen. At the airport, Mahara learns that the flight has been delayed by more than an hour, but what of it, he waits.
When Ranbir finally steps out, Mahara extends his hand for a quick shake, exchanges pleasantries like an old acquaintance and walks away with a few shots and a giddy smile on his face. In another scene, outside Ekta Kapoor’s house on Diwali, Mahara is one of many paparazzi. Everyone jostles and struggles against barricades. Bhumi Pednekar, Ali Fazal, Richa Chadha, Vidya Balan, Karan Johar and Wamiqa Gabbi make their appearances, and chaos is unleashed. Bouncers push the paps back. One of them shoves a little too hard, another one falls.
In another shot, Mahara is seen going into actor Sonu Sood’s home. He asks him for help for his brother’s surgery. In the next scene, he is heard saying on the phone: “Relations get ruined because of money.”
Kharnare says, “I shadowed Mahara for six months. I wanted to portray him not just as a pap but also as a human being.”
Initially, Mahara did not trust his director. He says, “I did not understand what he was trying to do. He followed me everywhere I went.” But eventually, the two of them bonded.
Mahara says, “We became brothers.” After two to three months, Mahara finally called up Kharnare and said, “When are you coming to my home?”
Shots from Mahara’s home in Andheri are peppered throughout the film. Him eating dal chawal on the floor with his ailing brother, him chewing tobacco in between work, him in the shower, him at the hospital, him waking up at odd hours to chase tips...
Mahara’s story is not a tragedy. It is exactly what Divya says he set out to do. An intimate peek into the life of a paparazzo. Mahara tells The Telegraph with laughter in his voice, “Dua karo, bas ek National Award mil jaye... Pray that I get a National Award.”