NEW DELHI: Media intrusion into Amitabh Bachchan’s hospital ward has rekindled the debate about the privacy of celebrities and where to draw a line. Let’s admit the fact that we overdid it. The media became the ‘worst’ stomach ache for Amitabh Bachchan. If allowed, the cameras would have rolled into Amitabh’s operation room to give a minute-by-minute account.

Don’t the celebrities have a right to privacy? Can the media just walk into their personal space and demand information?

This, when in Hollywood, Jennifer Aniston has won half-a-million dollar in damages after suing a paparazzi.

Says actress Amrita Arora, “When you become famous, privacy is the price you pay.

“I’ve had some tough moments, when the media became over-inquisitive about my personal life...

“But that’s the risk of our profession. We’re public faces and hardly anything about our lives is private. It’s a bitter trade-off.”

The truth is, there’s a fine line between ‘scoops’ and becoming ‘obsessive’. The media must find a way to delink the two, feels Akhila Shivdas of Center for Media Advocacy.

“Why do we find it difficult to draw a line? As the cameras followed Amitabh Bachchan to the hospital, they created a national anxiety, which put pressure on the media for greater intrusion into his private space.”

Recently, Naomi Campbell won $5,000 in damages from a London tabloid for publishing a photograph of Campbell leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Campbell considered the ruling as a victory in her battle with the media for her privacy.

The big question is: Is the public entitled to know private details about a celebrity, just because that person is a public figure?

“I think when you become famous, the public has the right to know everything about you,” says actor Upen Patel.

In India, the law can help celebrities if they feel their privacy is being invaded, says Rajiv Dhawan, senior Supreme Court advocate. “Privacy is recognized as a fundamental right by the Supreme Court.

“We can look at privacy invasion under trespassing, defamation and eavesdropping. If a celebrity finds a peeping Tom outside his house, it will be an ‘act of nuisance’. If Amitabh Bachchan desires, he can sue the reporter who trespassed into the hospital.” —By arrangement with the Times of India