Stars & Gripes

WITH the 66th edition of the Cannes de Festival underway,red carpet appearances by Indian stars are once again under the spotlight. And the Indian contingent,touted as the strongest ever,is certainly making its presence felt — albeit the fashion quotient still leaves a lot to be desired. For starters,jury member Vidya Balan followed up her maroon lehenga by Sabyasachi Mukherjee with a simple white sari by the same designer at another jury photocall and ended the night with another Sabya lehenga at the screening of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Mukherjee may have tried to recapture the magic of the 20s through this ensemble,but the pallu on the head seemed to be pushing things too far — so much so that Balan looked like she was about to break into a mujra a la Umraao Jaan.

Amitabh Bachchan didn’t score well on the red carpet either. The blue-and-white striped jacket did nothing for Big B at the photocall for the film earlier in the day,and his sequinned tuxedo with a polka-dotted bow-tie for the screening in the evening was not easy on the eyes.

Thankfully,Sonam Kapoor and Freida Pinto didn’t disappoint. Even as Pinto chose to go with a pink Gucci gown with an embellished belt and an unorthodox hairdo,Sonam Kapoor stuck to an Indian avatar with her favourite — an Anamika Khanna lace sari with an embroidered jacket — and a Sunita K nathni (nose ring) completed the look.