CANNES, France — Aishwarya Rai Bachchan closed her run at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in an all-white structured suit by Chinese designer Cheney Chan, capping a week of red-carpet appearances that drew both admiration and the kind of online criticism that prompted Kangana Ranaut to come out in unusually direct defence of a Bollywood rival.
Photographs of the actor at the closing ceremony on Saturday, May 23, showed her in a layered white tuxedo-inspired ensemble featuring a fitted blouse, trousers with intricate lace detailing along the sides, feather accents, a feather boa, and voluminous curled hair. The designer shared a series of images on Instagram on Sunday, fuelling another round of fashion commentary across social media.
The closing-night look was Rai Bachchan’s third major appearance of the festival. She made her first appearance on Friday in a sculptural blue gown by Indian designer Amit Aggarwal called Luminara, a couture piece built around the concept of light in motion. Later that evening, she changed into a soft pink Sophie Couture gown with floral detailing and a flowing sheer cape for the Lights On Women’s Worth event, which was also attended by Eva Longoria, Ariana Greenblatt, and Amy Jackson.
The most-discussed moment of her week at Cannes was not her own outfit but her daughter’s red-carpet debut. Aaradhya Bachchan, who turned 14 in November, formally walked the red carpet with her mother for the first time on Friday evening, wearing a ruby-red satin gown with a matching cape. Photographers spent several minutes capturing the two together, and the pictures travelled rapidly across Indian and international entertainment platforms over the weekend.
Aaradhya has accompanied her mother to Cannes since childhood, but this marked the first occasion where she formally walked the carpet and posed before photographers as an invited guest rather than as a visiting family member. The composure she showed during the long photo call drew approving coverage in international entertainment press, with several outlets noting the poise and the visible care her mother took to keep her at the centre of the moment.
Not all the reactions to Rai Bachchan’s appearances were positive. A section of social media users posted critical commentary about her looks and her weight, prompting actor-politician Kangana Ranaut, often positioned as a rival in Bollywood star wars, to issue a striking defence on her Instagram Stories. “Fashion and style is a self expression. It is one’s own interpretation of life and their attitude,” Ranaut wrote. “No woman owes anything to anyone. Ash looks great. Those of you who want to see her any other way, why don’t you show what you got?”
Ranaut followed up with a sharper line that quickly travelled across social media. “She is not here to please you. She is glorious. If you are not used to seeing older women on red carpets, get used to them now.” The remarks drew a wave of supportive responses online, with many users applauding her for calling out ageism and the unrealistic beauty expectations often directed at women in entertainment.
The dynamic was notable because Ranaut and Rai Bachchan have not historically been close in public, and Ranaut’s commentary on other female actors has often been pointed. The defence of Rai Bachchan was widely read as a signal that the broader conversation about how older women are treated in mainstream Indian entertainment has moved well beyond individual rivalries.
Rai Bachchan, 52, has been a fixture at Cannes since making her debut in 2002 with Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the premiere of Devdas. She became the first Indian actor to serve on the Cannes jury in 2003, attending in a series of memorable Indian and Western looks. She has returned almost every year since, and her appearances have come to function as one of the most reliable markers of mainstream Indian presence on the French Riviera.
For brand partners, the visibility is significant. Rai Bachchan attends Cannes as a global ambassador for L’Oreal Paris, a role she has held for more than two decades. The cosmetics company built parts of its annual campaign cycle around her Cannes appearances, and the network of designers and stylists who work on her looks has become a tightly choreographed operation. Cheney Chan’s closing-night ensemble was reported to have been customised for her over several weeks, with the Chinese designer travelling to Cannes for the fitting.
The closing of the 79th edition of the festival also marked the end of a season that saw Romanian director Cristian Mungiu win the Palme d’Or for his film Fjord, according to reports. For Indian observers, the more durable image from Cannes 2026 may be the one that ran across photo wires on Friday evening: Rai Bachchan and Aaradhya posing side by side, mother and daughter, on a red carpet that has become a familiar setting for both.
