Aishwarya Rai will have company at Cannes

First it was just Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Freida Pinto and Mallika Sherawat who were supposed to represent India on a global platform, by walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival that begins this May 11.

Then the news of other B-towners like Saif Ali Khan and Minissha Lamba flying to the French Riviera cropped up. Obviously, everybody was excited at the prospects of an increased Indian presence at the international festival. Now, it turns out that adding to the list will be film-maker Karan Johar, actor Rani Mukerji, fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukerji and filmaker Madhur Bhandarkar.

Sources in the know say that the trio are being flown to Cannes by the same brand that Saif will represent there this year. “Last year they had taken Deepika Padukone and Rohit Bal. The brand apparently wants to be responsible for the maximum Bolly presence at Cannes this year,” says a source.

While most actors are keeping details about their outfits a heavily guarded secret, it has been made known that Sabya will be designing for and styling Rani’s look for the event. “Saif will be there on the 11th. But KJo, Sabya and Rani will be there on the 18th. All of them will be at the festival for just one day. The brand is also hosting an after party there, which Saif will attend. But the trio’s itinerary is not yet finalised,” says the source adding that if things go as planned KJo might even deliver a talk on Indian cinema there. But that’s just the tentative plan.