Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on her “incredible” 17-year journey at Cannes

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has returned back to Mumbai after another spectacular appearance at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

The actress, has spoken about her “incredible” 17th year at the festival, 15 of those years have been associated with cosmetic brand L’Oreal. Talking about this, Bachchan told DNA India, “It’s been an incredible journey. I’ve so many wonderful memories. These last 15 years with L’Oréal have been great and I’m grateful to them for getting me to meet some wonderful women from our industry. We didn’t get too much time to spend with each other, but it still left an impact. To actually get to meet them in person and experience that we are one team accelerates the idea because of which I came on board. From ‘I’m worth it’, it was ‘you’re worth it’ and now, it’s ‘we’re worth it’. This has got a deeper meaning for me. This is a cosmetic brand and people believe we are always talking about skin care and fashion, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s about making women stronger and helping them believe in themselves. Shringar has been a part of our mythology, of being who you are as men and women. All of us need to first free ourselves of judging each other. Everyone has their own choices and we, as women, need to stop judging other women. If you do a lot of shringar, it doesn’t mean that you lack substance.”

Bachchan will next be seen in ‘Fanne Khan’, out later this year. She also spoke frankly about her character in the film. She said, “Yes. I don’t care if it’s a character, a leading lady or a glamorous part. People forget I did Iruvar (1997) right in the beginning of my career. I played Shah Rukh (Khan)’s sister in our first film together (Josh, 2000) and I never had issues. I’m doing Fanne Khan because I like the larger idea of the film. There’s a girl who looks up to this pop star, which is played by me. But sometimes, when we idolise someone, we forget that they, too, have a real side to that person. We shouldn’t judge people on what actually are frivolous ideas. It’s important for me as a star to come out and speak about such issues in today’s day and time.”