‘Ranbir Kapoor doesn’t do paid PR, don’t know why Shah Rukh Khan refuses to pose and covers car in a black cloth’: Paparazzo Manav Manglani reveals tricks of the trade

Manav revealed that him and his team know where stars are likely to hang out most of the time, which is how they manage to get their photographs, but he also admitted that paid PR is an important facet of this business. “We know the places where celebs usually go for workout lunch dinner meetings so we keep checking them frequently and there are times when we are informed about their whereabouts by the PR team,” he said. Asked if it’s annoying to see actors pretend that they’re being stalked by the paparazzi even though they’re the ones who summoned photographers to click them, Manav quipped, “Well, they are actors first and they love acting when the camera is on them.”

He did, however, reveal that Ranbir Kapoor is among the only stars to not have a PR machinery behind him. “Never interacted with any PR related to RK, it’s always around his movie promotion that we tend to catch up frequently, rest is pretty organic as and when we spot his car or at the airport,” he said. He also responded to a question about Karan Johar’s comment about the paparazzi having a ‘rate card’ for celebs to be featured on their pages. “Hahaha there is no rate card as such, it’s all about exclusive stories with big celebs and the hype around them which fetches good amount but with digital age booming globally that’s also gone for a toss, and now it’s all about who clicks first and does the posting to achieve maximum eyeballs and making the story viral,” he said.

Manav revealed that ‘most celebrities’ are well-behaved, but the best of the lot are Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Vicky Kaushal, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.

Bollywood celebs’ relationship with the paparazzi has always been a hot topic. Some actors, like Taapsee Pannu, have expressed disdain about being followed around by photographers, while others, like Janhvi Kapoor, use inventive methods to give them a slip. Actor couple Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan have had several run-ins with the paparazzi about their children being photographed and stalked, but they seem to have come to an agreement, much like Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, who’ve requested that their daughter not be photographed by the press, and in exchange, have offered to pose for them whenever required.