Mumbai: Veteran journalist and film critic Bhawana Somaaya has reflected on a time when the personal lives of Bollywood stars were kept intensely private, describing an industry where boundaries were respected and discretion was the norm. Speaking to ANI, she recalled a culture in which even marriages and pregnancies were handled with utmost confidentiality, supported by a close-knit media fraternity.

Somaaya said the dynamic between journalists and celebrities once rested largely on trust and shared values.

"Earlier, everything was personalised. There were a handful of newspapers and a handful of magazines. Everybody knew everybody by name. In our time, we were more friendly to each star individually than the stars were to each other. Nobody told you that this is off-record and this is

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