What will Aishwarya Rai wear down the red carpet at this year's Cannes Film Festival? Ever since she arrived by horse drawn carriage, dressed in a stunning yellow dress for the premiere of her film Devdas in 2002, Rai’s annual presence at the festival has added a unique Bollywood hue to the red carpet proceedings. Last year, my heart skipped a beat when Rai arrived decked in a white gown with her new husband Abhishek Bachchan on display.

Her choice of apparel has always created waves. In 2003, the Armani-clad Rai was the first Indian actor to sit on the prestigious judges’ panel and the following year, decked in Chopard and a Neeta Lulla skimpy white dress, she made spectators gasp in awe. Black was her colour of choice in 2005 and she arrived hand in hand with fellow L’Oreal brand ambassador Andie MacDowell in 2006. This year Rai will be there again: she is contractually bound by L’Oreal to appear.

Rai, hubby Abhishek and father in law, Amitabh Bachchan will be in town and will probably stay at the Martinez Hotel where they stayed last year. The trio’s latest film, Sarkar Raj, the sequel to Sarkar which is based on The Godfather, will enjoy an out of competition premiere.

Speculation is rife as to what the gorgeous Rai will wear. My guess is that, in her most important role to date as the respectable bahu (daughter-in-law) of the Bachchan dynasty, Rai will be adorned in a traditional sari. Designer, of course!

Bollywood at Cannes 2008

The Devdas premiere, staring Shah Rukh Khan and Rai, at Cannes in 2002 was largely responsible for establishing a Bollywood presence at the prestigious festival. This year promises an even higher profile. At least 20 Indian directors are expected to attend an Indian cinema conference from Sunday 18. In addition to the Bachchans, many A-listers will fly down for the legendary Ashok Amritraj boat bash and other parties. Last year, I bumped into John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Preity Zinta and Manisha Koirala at various events. Watch this space for this year’s attendees and gossip!

Kissing and cricket

In Emraan Hasmi’s latest flick, Jannat (Heaven), his cricket bookie character states: “Cricketers are no different from prostitutes.” While a fictional film, the movie from the Bhatt camp, released this week, drew some of its inspiration from the death of coach Bob Woolmer in Jamaica. It promises to be a gritty expose of match-fixing in the game. Does Hasmi, famous for being an on-screen serial kisser, get any opportunity to liplock? Hasmi reveals: “Oh he does! He always finds reasons and places to kiss!”

Dr Akshay Kumar

After Yash Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Shilpa Shetty (!), the latest Bollywood personality to receive an honorary doctorate from a foreign university is Akshay Kumar. The University of Windsor, based in Ontario Canada bestowed the dubious honour on the lanky hero last week. Why Kumar? “It’s basically for all the social work that he has done in Canada.” Let’s hope this was not in reference to his films.

Cinthol, not Clinique

Following on from Shah Rukh Khan’s decision to endorse a ‘Fair and Handsome’ skin lightening cream for men, Hrithik Roshan has become the latest star to endorse a product which makes ambitious claims. The superhero can be seen in ads for Cinthol deodorant soaps, sprays and talcs, which have been “specially formulated” to make you “run, jump, leap, move, fly!” Does Roshan actually use Cinthol soap? “I certainly tried Cinthol before associating with the brand; I was highly impressed with the quality and the fragrance.”

Star dog

“Shah Rukh Khan is licking my feet; I am feeding him biscuits,” Aamir Khan stated on his blog. “He begs for my attention, he is smelling, I think he needs a bath, heel, boy, heel!” After making controversial comments in relation to Amitabh Bachchan, it looked as though Shah Rukh was Aamir’s latest target. But just when I thought that it was the start of another messy star war, Aamir clarified that Shah Rukh was the name of his pet dog!

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