Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan stunned in a custom-made Gaurav Gupta black ensemble on her second day at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival. However, what grabbed eyeballs was her cape inscribed with Sanskrit shlokas from the Bhagavad Gita.

Aishwarya’s look on Thursday consisted of a hand-embroidered gown with abstract detailing featuring the cosmos in bursts of silver, gold, charcoal, and black, accented with micro glass crystals. A Banarasi brocade handwoven cape inscribed with the shlokas complemented her outfit.

Wearing her hair down, she completed the look with bold red lips and minimal accessories.

Reacting to the post, one of the fans wrote, “Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is Queen of Cannes, Ambassador of Indian cinema, Jewel of bollywood, she is respectful and dignified, most beautiful woman in the world.” Another fan commented, “Now Cannes is complete we are satisfied with (sic).”

On May 21, the 51-year-old actress turned heads at the festival in a classic white Manish Malhotra sari paired with ruby jewellery from the Indian couturier’s collection.

The highlight of her look, however, was a bright red sindoor on her forehead, which sparked attention on social media. While some fans speculated that the vermillion might be her way of quashing divorce rumours with her husband Abhishek Bachchan, others pointed out that it might allude to Operation Sindoor launched by India against Pakistan this month.

Aishwarya wore a saree to the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 as well for the screening of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, which marked her debut at the French Riviera. This year, she was present at the event for the premiere of Oliver Hermanus’s The History of Sound.

Last year, the Cannes veteran stunned in a custom black-and-white Falguni Shane Peacock gown, designed to complement the white plaster on her right arm.