One of the biggest weddings in Bollywood took place in 2007 when Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan tied the knot in a lavish ceremony that captured the nation’s attention. While the celebrations were grand, the wedding also triggered one of the biggest media boycotts Bollywood had ever seen. The fallout reportedly began after photographers covering the event alleged that they were mistreated by security personnel linked to politician Amar Singh, a close friend of the Bachchan family. Hurt by the treatment they received, photographers collectively decided to stop clicking the Bachchans altogether.

Recalling the incident, photographer Harshvardhan Pathak told Hindi Rush, “It was a huge wedding and a huge story. I have done photoshoots with him and share a great bond with him. But I started my career as a press photographer. As a freelancer, the more pictures I clicked, the more money I earned. During the wedding, the official photography contract had been given to one person, but we also needed pictures.”

He added that the wedding coincided with the rise of paparazzi culture.

“The wedding lasted four days. We would stand outside in queues, hide and try to take pictures. The bodyguards would throw pouches at the media. Forget food—even the way water was thrown at us felt disrespectful. We were deeply hurt. All the photographers discussed it internally and decided to boycott the Bachchan family. We didn’t click their pictures for an entire month.”

According to Pathak, the family did not immediately realise they were being boycotted.

“About a month later, Amitabh Bachchan’s first media appearance was at the press show of Cheeni Kum. Around 12 photographers were present. But when he arrived, nobody called out to him or clicked his photographs. He walked past several times, but no one reacted. Eventually, journalists began asking us what had happened. When he came back, he sensed the unusual atmosphere, spoke briefly to Balki, looked at us, and went inside.”

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Veteran celebrity photographer Varinder Chawla had previously shared a similar account. He told Hindi Rush, “I was stationed outside their house. We knew the spots from where we could get pictures, especially near the entrance. But a bus was parked there, completely blocking our view. When family members moved between their bungalows, Amar Singh’s security team became very aggressive. As media personnel tried to get a glimpse, they were attacked. Several photographers were injured.”

The incident eventually snowballed into an unprecedented media ban.

“I had never seen such a massive boycott. Everyone was banned—Amitabh ji, Jaya ji, Abhishek and Aishwarya. Whenever the Bachchan family attended events, photographers would place their cameras down or point them upwards as a mark of protest. If Amitabh Bachchan was called for a group photo, photographers would either click the person standing next to him or simply refuse to take his picture.”

The standoff reportedly ended only after Amitabh Bachchan personally addressed the issue and apologised to photographers for the treatment meted out to them.

Interestingly, this was not the first time Amitabh Bachchan spoke about being boycotted by the media. In a 2017 blog post, the actor recalled a period during the Emergency era when he claimed sections of the press stopped covering him for years.

“Nothing was ever printed or written about me. No coverage of my films or work. If I attended a function, photographers would put down their cameras and refuse to take a single picture. In film credits, for example in Nastik, it would read ‘Hema Malini, (,) and Pran.’ I was the comma.” The actor also cited what he considered another slight during the awards season following the success of Deewar.

“Many commentators and members of the media felt I was deliberately humiliated when the Best Actor award went to Sanjeev Kumar, while I was invited to present him with the trophy.”

According to Amitabh, the situation only began to change after his near-fatal accident while filming Coolie. One of the publications that had reportedly boycotted him published a sympathetic piece during his recovery.

Recalling a later meeting with the magazine’s editor, Amitabh wrote: “In his most forthright and honest manner, he said, ‘We were upset and annoyed with you because of what you had done to the media, and we wanted you to fail. But we did not want you to die. That is why we wrote the piece when you recovered.’ It was an emotional moment, and from then on, our relationship returned to normal.”

The episode remains one of the most talked-about clashes between Bollywood’s most influential family and the entertainment media, offering a rare glimpse into the power dynamics between stars and the press.