From the desk of Miss Know-All: Paparazzi on the prowl...

(Published on 17 October 2006 in 'Women at Work' - W @ W - a supplement of the Daily Mirror, Colombo, Sri Lanka)

It takes so little to excite the gentry ‘dahlings.’ The streets of Pune - a town 160 kilometres south of Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, have been abuzz with excitement. Citizens of Pune woke up one morning to find Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie with their son Maddox riding an auto rickshaw down their crowded and cramped roads. Hollywood’s top couple are currently on a six-week trip to Pune along with their children - Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh-Nouvel. Angelina is in Pune, to shoot for 'A Mighty Heart' based on the real life story of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl, who was killed in Pakistan by Islamist terrorists in 2002. Jolie is to portray Mariane Pearl, wife of the slain journalist. Pune was chosen for the shooting as the landscape resembled Karachi.

Hollywood’s first couple have descended on this lethargic Indian town with an army of security guards. Also in tow are a mammoth number of paparazzi from around the world. While an average bloke on the street can’t fathom out why his hometown is at the centre of so much attention – the paparazzi is going ballistic trying to steal a glimpse. Paparazzi from across the world are monitoring every move of the stars. Photographers have mounted a 24/7 vigil of all possible exits and entries of the hotel. Recently Angelina’s private security guard manhandled a photographer. The beefy security personnel apparently roughed up British lens-man Sam Pelf. Eyewitnesses said he also used abusive language and threatened to thrash the photographer. While the incident raked up a debate on how far the paparazzi can be allowed to overstep on people’s privacy, I wondered what the origin of the word ‘paparazzi’ was.

Paparazzi - is plural of Paparazzo and comes from the name of a character in the movie ‘La Dolce Vita.’ Paparazzo was a photographer who would go to great lengths to take pictures of American movie stars. In 1960, this annoying freelance journalist was immortalised by the director Federico Fellini. The origin of the name Paparazzo is attributed to the Sicilian word for an oversize mosquito – papataceo. As per Fellini, paparazzo is a buzzing insect, hovering, darting and stinging. He goes further to describe it as a human-like figure that has no bone structure and resembles a vampire like insect that is a parasite. After the movie was released, the word paparazzi became synonymous with intrusive photographers. Time magazine introduced the word to the public in an article entitled, ‘Paparazzi on the Prowl’ and described them as a ravenous wolf pack of freelance photographers who stalk celebrities for a living and fire with flash guns at point-blank. The term soon gained popularity across the entertainment world.

But what is very clear is that no matter what the ‘celebrity bounty hunters’ achieve to capture, paparazzi is a derogatory term. However - each to his own opinion. For as per Anna Nicole Smith: “I love the paparazzi. They take pictures, and I just smile away. I've always liked attention. I didn't get it very much growing up, and I always wanted to be, you know, noticed.”

Miss Know-All
wow@dailymirror.wnl.lk