Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Sara Ali Khan received plaudits for her lehenga-clad appearance on the Cannes red carpet and is now among distinguished company. Over the years, Bollywood actresses Sonam Kapoor, Vidya Balan, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have all attended Cannes wearing lehengas, some with greater success than others. The pioneer was Aishwarya who, in 2003, donned two lehengas while serving on a jury. They weren’t the midriff-baring styles that Sara wore this year and later on Sonam. Aishwarya’s lehengas throughout those Neetu Lulla years were as a result blingy and bordering on gaudy.
At the opening ceremony, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan donned this lehenga with a pink top:
She also donned a maroon lehenga. Years later, in 2018, Sonam Kapoor donned an ivory outfit designed by Ralph & Russo: In 2013, Vidya Balan’s jury duty clothing featured two lehengas, both by Sabyasachi, which were both heavily criticised. Even though their fashion was very different, both Sonam and Vidya injected some desi flavour to the Cannes red carpet by sporting nose rings that were paired with sarees rather than lehengas. Sonam adorned her braid with a complex decoration to match the design of her lehenga.
In 2023, Sara Ali Khan chose an Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla creation for her big Cannes debut, including an ivory lehenga with shadow work and embroidery, a blouse adorned with pearls and resham, and a veil fastened to her hair opening night.
Manushi Chhillar, Esha Gupta, and Urvashi Rautela all walked the red carpet yesterday night in addition to Sara Ali Khan. This year, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will make her 21st appearance at Cannes while Anushka Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Mrunal Thakur will also be making their debuts.
