India's Page 3

In the ongoing debate about Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Page 3', Washington Times offers its two cents [Registration required] about the phenomenon.

Bhandarkar insisted that his movie was not meant to offend. "I'm not making a judgment," he said by telephone from Bombay, describing the movie as "a documentary, realistic portrayal." He added, "I myself am on Page 3 so many times. . . . They are not creepy people."
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Although much has changed in recent years, coverage of celebrities is still relatively tame by the standards of American or British media, in part because celebrities enjoy greater privacy protections under Indian law; in December, for example, India's supreme court opined that the airing of a camera-phone video purportedly showing two Bollywood stars locked in a steamy kiss -- something that would hardly have raised an eyebrow in the West -- "cannot be in the public good."

"We are way behind other countries when it comes to paparazzi," said Kanika Gahlaut, a former Page 3 reporter who now writes for India Today, the country's leading newsmagazine. "You can't write about a chief minister's girlfriend."

On the other hand, she said, it is permissible to "talk about his clothes," and that in itself is something of a breakthrough...