Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, 42, looked breathtakingly beautiful and ravishing in a red sari when she met French President Francois Hollande at a special luncheon held in New Delhi on the occasion of the country's Republic Day celebration on Jan. 26, Tuesday. She completed her looks with polki jewellery and a bunched up hairdo long with a simple bindi and red lipstick.
The Indian actress, who is currently busy shooting for her new film "Sarbjit," became the center of attention as she arrived in the stunning attire at the luncheon that was organized by French Ambassador Francois Richier to honor Hollande's presence in India.
Fans of the former beauty queen around the world were quick to notice that the actress was actually donning an authentic Banarasi sari for the special occasion. It was reportedly woven in the temple town of Varanasi on handloom with finest mulberry silk and zari made of gold coated pure silver threads.
The exquisite piece is designed by Kolkata-based designer duo Swati and Sunaina, who has taken up the project of translating the Mughal architecture on stone into a ravishing textile art using traditional "kadhua" style of weaving.
What was more special in the six-yard wonder was that it was made using only natural fibres and eco-friendly dyeing method, a source close to the designers told Indian Express.
The designer duo collaborated for the first time in 2007 with a vision to bring back the lost treasures of Indian hand-woven textiles. The collection has been named as "Mehraab" and is being made using traditional technique "kadhua" by Varanasi's weavers. The "kadhua" style is completely different from normal embroidery and cannot be done by a machine.
"In fact the kadhua style of weaving, which cannot be imitated on a power loom, is the basis of getting Geographical Indication (GI) tag to this famed Banarasi product," Times Of India quoted Rajni Kant of Human Welfare Association as saying. Kant has played a key role in getting GI certification for Banarasi Brocade and Sari.
Apart from appearing in some of the finest Indian movies like "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam," "Devdas," and "Guru," Rai is also an ambassador of French cosmetics and beauty company L'Oreal Paris, for which she recently starred in an ad with Eva Longoria. Check out the advertisement starring the world beauties below:
