Cameras Shamelessly Zoom In On Malaika Arora's Backless Outfit, Paparazzi Has No Limits

Paparazzi seems to be hitting new lows with the coverage of actor Malaika Arora in 2022. Not long after cameras caught her walking apparently braless on the streets and made a hullabaloo about it, the actor is at the receiving end of sleazy media coverage again. This time, her backless outfit was sensationalised.

Without hesitation, the paparazzi made it a point to zoom into the most exposed bits on Arora's body as she was getting into her car while out for lunch with her friends recently.

What justifies the crass celebrity coverage that seems to have become so commonplace today? Isn't such media coverage a microaggressive way of policing women on the kind of clothes they wear? Do we feel doubly entitled to take the liberty of scrutinising women celebrities because if it is on the Internet, it is there for our guilt-free consumption?

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A quick scroll down the paparazzi videos that give social media users generous angles of Arora's body will show the kind of venom such celebrity coverage legitimised. People are not holding back on &t=5s">slut-shaming Arora and moralising her on how she should 'act her age.'

Arora is nearing 50, a number that is linked with exaggerated social correctness for middle-aged women who are expected to adhere to the traditional decorum of dressing, behaving, nurturing and being. So it shocks the general public when a woman dares to break convention and step out of the comfort zone society has installed for her and limited her to.

We see this play out everyday, more visibly so with the onset of increased social media accessibility. Last year same time, actor Rajini Chandy was heavily trolled for a norm-breaking photoshoot she did at the age of 69, dressed in pretty dresses and ripped jeans. People tore into the photos with enough vitriolic dialogue to dampen any woman's morale.

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The media contributes greatly to sexist sensibilities with the manner of coverage they extend to female public figures. Do screaming headlines about Arora's bralessness or backlessness with overtones of sexualisation, for instance, not encourage further criticism towards her? What about journalistic responsibilities?

Who should be given a lesson in dignified behaviour: Malaika Arora or Indian media? 

How our cameras and media drive major celebrity discourse in the country was exhibited in 2020, following Sushant Singh Rajput's death. His former girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty was villified, abused, shamed and denigrated nationally by a large population that held her accountable for his demise.

Through sensationalistic debates and intrusive journalism, the press played a key hand in furthering the agenda against Chakraborty, putting her on a full-blown media trial without any concrete judicial conclusion in the case that held her accountable. More on the coverage at the time.

News media produces yellow content with aplomb and impunity because it knows this is the brand of journalism a lot of the citizenry enjoys lapping up. Arora stepping out in a backless top is a non-incident. It should be nobody's business, least of all those people's who find themselves qualified to sermonise women.

Views expressed are the author's own.