Big B vs Media: Who will blink first?

It is an unusual war. Angry at the way they were treated during the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding coverage in April this year, news photojournalists in Mumbai have banned Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan and his family.

Hordes of photojournalists turn up at public functions attended by Bachchan and his family, his friend Amar Singh but they refuse to shoot a single photograph. Thrice since the much-hyped April 18 wedding, photojournalists have refused to shoot pictures of Bachchan, clearly annoying the superstar. The background to this open war is the treatment the media received when Abhishek-Aishwarya got married at the Bachchan bungalow, Prateeksha in Juhu in north-western Mumbai. Usually in celebrity weddings, the concerned celebs are sympathetic to the media and make it a point to pose at least one for a few minutes to enable the media to carry on with its work.

India captain Rahul Dravid posed with his Nagpur-based wife Vijeta for a few minutes and politely requested photographers to stop. Sachin Tendulkar's wedding to Anjali had immaculate security but the master blaster made it a point to step out at Jewel of India restaurant in Worli to pose. During Hritik Roshan's wedding to Suzanne, Papa Roshan conceded media request and participated in a photo-op if only for barely two-three minutes.

But, Brand Bachchan was obviously bigger than anything else perhaps. Not only was there heavy security at Prateeksha and Jalsa, the two Bachchan residences in Mumbai, even neighbours were asked not to allow a print or TV camera to peep into the wedding venues. The TV crews had their OB vans equipped with food, water etc. parked at the wedding venue but photojournalists worked in shifts to ensure that they don't miss a picture. They got none for two days before the wedding.

On the wedding day, when Bachchan with the married couple and Amar Singh returned to Prateeksha after a ritual, Amar Singh's black cat commandos got into a scuffle with photojournalists. DNA newspaper's B.L.Soni was kicked and hit with a rifle butt so badly that he spent next four days in the hospital. The local police did lodge a case against unidentified guards but obviously no action was going to be taken against political heavyweights.

Next morning, Bachchan summoned in TV crews still snooping around the bungalow and apologised for the fracas. But, the apology failed to convice photojournalists who vowed to impose a ban of photographs of Bachchan and his family.

They stuck to their word at the glittering premiere of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom where the Bachchans were present. Earlier, this month, Amitabh and Jaya released a commemorative book on Samovar, a restaurant at the Jehangir Art Gallery frequented by top artists, film stars, models and commoners. But no pictures appeared in Mumbai papers.

Yesterday, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh suddenly arrived in Mumbai to announce the candidature of Rashid Masood, party's MP from Saharanpur, for the Vice President's post representing the Third Front. Astute politician that he is, he quickly realised that photojournalists stood there armed with cameras but none clicked his picture. That's when he tendered an apology for the April 18 attach by his guards.

But that failed to pacify photojournalists. This morning, Bachchan appeared with Hollywood actress Sienna Miller at a IIFA function at a five-star hotel, and photographers did not shoot pictures. Bachchan and Miller were promoting Global Cool, an initiative to create awareness about the perils of global warming.

This is the second time that Bachchan has personally faced such a ban from photographers. In 1970s, when he was the reigning superstar, the photographers who exclusively cover cinema assignments had imposed such a ban