Aishwarya Rai at the opening ceremony of the 61st Cannes Film Festival. (AFP)

Cannes, May 15: Whether snub is the appropriate word is unclear but Aishwarya Rai and the rest of the Bachchan clan certainly appear to have offended Indian officials by turning up last night for the red carpet gala screening of the opening Brazilian-directed film but rejecting requests to attend today’s official opening of the Indian Pavilion on the Croisette.

It would have taken her no more than 10 minutes to walk the distance from the Martinez Hotel — three minutes in a chauffeur-driven limousine — where L’Oreal, the French cosmetics company whom she represents, put up their “faces”.

However, Aishwarya, along with husband, Abhishek, doing his second Cannes, and her in-laws, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, chose to “boycott” the Indian function.

Outside the pavilion, the Indian flag flew but not very proudly, many insulted guests felt.

“Her programme is strictly controlled by L’Oreal,” suggested one official. Her presence and that of Abhishek would have given much needed glamour to the opening of the Indian Pavilion, where the honours were performed by Uday Kumar Varma, additional secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

While officials would not comment on the record on Aishwarya’s absence, it was established that senior officials from I&B did make attempts to persuade her to come.

There is no fee for coming and in the past Aishwarya and other high profile figures in Bollywood have been quite happy to come to the pavilion which is meant to be a venue where Indian film industry folk can mingle and network.

One official reasoned that Aishwarya’s prestige would not have been diminished if she had linked her name to that of India and that L’Oreal had wanted her in the first place because she was an established Bollywood star.

Another said it was quite possible her programme was controlled by the Bachchans.

All of the anger directed at her and the Bachchans could well have been misplaced but among Indians at the function, it is fair to say Aishwarya did not win many friends today.

An important director has been gossiping about an alleged feud in Mumbai between Bachchan and a journalist-cum-director.

One official summed up: “What could have been more important than helping your own country and the film industry that has made you what you are?”

The focus last night was on the cast of the opening film, Blindness, including the lead actress, Julianne Moore. The biggest cheers were understandably for the stars the crowds recognised — Cate Blanchett, who features in the new Indiana Jones movie that will have its world premiere in Cannes, Sean Penn, the president of the main jury, Natalie Portman, Faye Dunaway, Eva Longoria and X-Files star Gillian Anderson.

While the Bachchan men were in black ties, Aishwarya wore a black gown with crossed straps on the back and her hair piled high. On such occasions, she tends to steer clear of saris.

In the glamour stakes, Aishwarya had serious competition today from Angelina Jolie at the screening of DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda, which played out of competition. Last year, Jolie and Brad Pitt — the couple are expecting twins — came for the premiere of A Mighty Heart.

Jolie also stars in the Clint Eastwood’s child-abduction drama, Changeling, which is one of 22 films in the main competition.At the Indian Pavilion, meanwhile, Varma said he had important announcements to make on behalf of the Indian government.The prize money for the top prize — the Golden Peacock — at the India International Film Festival in Goa was going up to Rs 40 lakh, equivalent to $100,000, in an effort to attract the best entries from around the world, he said.