Mumbai: One of the world’s most beautiful women, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, has made her fans’ jaws drop at the wake of the Cannes film festival this year. As the flurry of photographers clamoured to click her photograph, the 43-year-old actress struck a picture of poise!
Aishwarya, who landed in Cannes with her five-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Aaradhya, says she was surprised to see her little one pose perfectly for the cameras.
“There are some pictures of her gesturing a ‘no’ at the airport (as she was departing),” she narrates to us over a video call. “I asked her ‘what were you doing, waving out?’ She told me ‘I was saying no, no photos please.’ It was so cute!” exclaims Aishwarya.
The doting mother is pleased about the way Aaradhya has been growing up. “This kind of spontaneous naturalness is lovely (sic). I’ve been very particular that Aaradhya evolves, and develops her own personality, and hope she finds her own calling,” she gushes.
Aishwarya says that born into a family of superstars, her daughter seems to have imbibed the qualities of knowing the movie business. “She’s aware of our profession. She sees our posters all over the city, on buses and bus stops. I don’t have to talk to her about what her mother does,” she says.
Her daughter is a normal girl, smiles Aishwarya. “Even though she’s born to a lady in showbiz, I have kept it as simple as I could up to now,” she says and adds, “This time, I joked with her teachers, saying I’m going for the weekend to play fancy dress for Aaradhya. So, she wants to see me in princess gowns. Every minute spent with her is worth it.”
At the festival, Aishwarya looked like a modern-day Cinderella in a stunning ensemble. The L’Oréal Paris ambassador let her hair loose and walked like she owned the red carpet.
As for trolls, Aishwarya takes even that in her stride. “I’m only human,” she sighs. “Having said that, I’ve never made it the fulcrum of my existence. I know that they will never do anything that will make me physically uncomfortable. I recognise that there will be opinions, but there’s so much love out there. All your (the fans’) love protects me.”
The actress relived her first Cannes appearance by presenting Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, at the outdoor cinema. Excited, she says, “The first time was surreal. It was very exciting for all of us and to get a standing ovation for the film was amazing.”
