While it is unfortunate that no Bollywood film made it to the 2019 Cannes Film Festival this year, divas from the film fraternity and the Indian fashion industry made impressive appearances in their attires. One noteworthy similarity among all of the red carpet looks was the fact that the beauties all chose white for the main event! Here are some of the last week’s looks of our Bollywood queens that made our eyes stay glued on Instagram.
1. Deepika Padukone
First and foremost, we have Queen D, Deepika Padukone. Sure, sometimes red carpet looks aren’t her forte, but her Cannes 2019 looks are to be remembered…that too, right after her impressive presence at the Met Gala. Padukone serving looks right and left, and to confirm, we cannot miss hubby Ranveer Singh’s comments on Instagram!
Dramatic Deepika! I do not know of anyone who could’ve pulled off a gown with a giant bow, puffy sleeves, AND a plunging neckline better than her. And, the oomph factor for me was definitely the high ponytail with a velvet tie. She opted for a defining eye and matte lips, not to forget the shiny diamond jewelry to finish the look. We sure did love the fact that Deepu did not play it safe and chose this Dundan gown. It sure did not look too over-the-top! Day 1 done well!
This Mastani sported a number of looks on Day 2 and every single one created a lasting impression.
We love a celebrity look that we can recreate, and this Cannes look is surely one that is not hard to do so. Matching suits are so in right now and Padukone shows us how to pair a striped Loewe suit with bright orange pumps. Hello Summer!
One of our favorite looks from Cannes has to be this diva’s @off_white look. It is a combination of elegant and contemporary, a bit of tulle and snakeskin. How can we miss the lime green sunnies and the sneakers? This look screamed “trendy runaway bride” to me.
The third look from day 2 was not only #outfitgoals but also, #makeupgoals. A sheer white top can never go wrong and easily pairable with a pair of white bottoms from Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini. Again, this is a look we Brown Girls can take note from and incorporate in our daily fashion. The dark lip contrasted with the shimmery highlight gave dimension to the whole outfit.
One fan’s comment on this look went something like this: “This WOMAN!” I cannot help but say the same. This woman can work all types of looks and big bows are really doing it for her this year. Floral Maxi dress from Erdem? Check. A bun? Check. Statement earrings, natural makeup, perfect Summer 2019 look?…check check check.
Deepika’s last look was, at first, eye-catching. However, as she shared more pictures, I came to adore it. It was fun, to say the least. Lime green and tulle yet again, but this time this Giambattista Valli piece was nothing less of a masterpiece. While her extra long tail trailed along the red carpet, her GLOWING face did the rest. Maybe the Emily London head wrap could’ve been omitted, but dramatic Deepu did do justice to it.
Here we have the global superstar: Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Modern, yet royal, this white jumpsuit is by Saudi designer, Honayda. The unique neck was indeed the show stealer. The sleek hair and glowin’ highlight emphasized regality. Literally, an angel.
She stunned yet again in a black Roberto Cavalli sparkly gown with long Chopard earrings. The center of attention was definitely the graphic eye paired with a rose-pink lip shade. The best accessory, however, was her smile.
Now, what can I say about the next daytime looks of this Quantico star? Screaming “brunch” at us was the satin blue, summery dress with a corset, paired with the perfect white hat and pearls to top it off. She had the perfect arm candy to walk out with, in the form of husband and singer/actor, Nick Jonas.
Now, this next unique number could have mixed reviews, but PC pulled it off. She looked no less than a mermaid in this high neck, light lavender piece from Fendi. She made her brown eyes pop by wearing bright blue eyeliner. Probably could’ve gone with another hairstyle, but this ‘Purple haze’ was a winner regardless.
Mrs. Jonas was soothing to the eyes as she walked down the red carpet wearing a piece from Georges Hobeika’s Spring 2020 Bridal collection and once again, sporting jewelry from Chopard. She kept a simple ponytail with the perfect lip shade. The tiers on this perfect white, strapless, tulle gown created a princess vibe. And, of course, her prince was right by her side to compliment her. It was like their wedding all over again and we are not complaining at all!
For the next two looks, Piggy Chop, I’d say, achieved a whole lot with what some might see as, bright, plain, yet sparkly dresses. We are all about the back of the orange Tommy Hilfiger gown.
Cannes is not complete without our Mazakalli, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja. Kapoor Ahuja’s stylist, her sister, Rhea Kapoor mentioned that her looks were inspired by royalty. Let’s take a look.
First and for most, she took our breath away as she posted a picture of herself in a Maison Valentino sheer red dress with the perfect sleeves. She couldn’t have chosen a better hairstyle, that too, with flowers. Such a treat to the eyes and definitely a summer look to aim for.
Like Deepu, this Neerja star did not fail the in ‘bow’ look, either. Chic Kapoor Ahuja donned this dark violet Elie Saab gown and how during her next appearance!
And then came the dinner party. So, this fashionista had a tough choice to make: saree and a gown? It seems like she chose a bit of both! You might have seen some type of such collaboration in fashion lately, especially in Bollywood. However, this Golden couture piece from Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla had us looking at Sonam as if she was indeed a maharani. The gown had the essential South Asian touched: the saree pleats at the bottom and, not to miss the drape on her hair, with the statement neck piece. Giving a modern twist to this royal look was her matte lips with smokey eyes. In all honesty, we expected nothing less from Bollywood’s favorite fashionista!
While no one really talked about this specific look of this Aisha actress, it was my personal favorite. In a custom dress by Ashi Studio, she was a treat to the eye. Stunning in yellow from head to toe, she enhanced the details by wearing a red lip and Chopard earrings.
When it comes to impressing us, Sonam Kapoor leaves no stone unturned. Ditching the formal gown for the red carpet look, she wore a white pantsuit by Ralph & Russo, and made it work by attaching a long train, how neat! The emerald jewelry on her ultimately stole the show. Not overdoing it, she kept the hair and makeup to a minimum, which we love. A 9-5 look with a royal twist! One caption that justified the look was: “when you can have a wedding and a career!” YES!
Kangana Ranaut
One individual that truly amazed us by her presence at the Cannes Festival was no one other than the Queen, herself. Talented Kangana Ranaut brought her A-game to the festival this year.
In a custom Falguni and Shane Peacock corset and a Kanjivaram sari, Ranaut tells us what’s up! I mean, take a look at her maroon gloves completely her look! Truly, a QUEEN.
On the carpet, the sensational actress was no less of a Cinderella attending the ball. The braids in her hair, along with the glowy, soft makeup, and lilac earrings reminded us of Disney princesses. The Michael Cinco off the shoulder, embroidered gown suited her perfectly. Way to go, you made us proud, yet again!
What we have always learned from this beauty is the fact that you have to have your own voice and be proud in your own skin. Embracing her curls, Kangana wears a flowy and effortless dress by Ralph & Russo, inspiring us to let go. Rooftop brunch inspo much?
Bollywood’s favorite, Mrs. Aishwariya Rai Bachan, should be commended for her fashion evolution at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. While both the metallic gown and the feathered gown were a bit too much for me, I should note that she looked radiating in them.
As she took a stroll in the French Riveria, this perfect momma did complete justice to a striped red and white off the shoulder dress. And, as always, Bollywood divas cannot go wrong with a red lip.
Amongst these stunners, Cannes had many newbies, too. Diana Penty was one of these newcomers. She sported a jaw-dropping look for her debut and we must say, she didn’t fail to impress!
The Cocktail star donned many looks, from a trench-coat dress to a sari. Here, she looked like every guy’s dream, in a NEDO sweetheart neck gown with feather and layers. We loved everything about this!
As many of you may have seen, Masoom Minawala, fashion influencer, and renowned blogger went live at Cannes on the Brown Girl Instagram story. She made a stellar appearance of her own and looked absolutely perfect.
September 12, 2023September 18, 2023 5min readBy Sandeep Panesar
It’s never a dull moment with your girl gang; some shots and conversations about sex, right? If you agree, you’re in for a treat with Karan Boolani’s directorial venture, “Thank You For Coming,” which had its world premiere at the 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival. This coming-of-age story unapologetically begs the answer to a very important question: Why should women be left high and dry in bed?
Kanika Kapoor (Bhumi Pednekar) is a successful, 32-year-old, Delhi food blogger who makes a huge revelation on her 30th birthday: She’s never experienced an orgasm. This dirty little secret (no pun intended!) has now become detrimental to her self-esteem. She feels so down and out that she even accepts the proposal of a very boring suitor, Jeevan-ji (Pradhuman Singh Mall).
But, it’s not like she hasn’t tried. Kanika’s been a monogamist since her teenage years, starting with puppy love in high school — unfortunately, their sexual endeavors coined her as “thandi” (cold) by her first boyfriend — all the way to dating in her adulthood. But, regardless of how great any relationship was, nobody had her achieve the big O. All until the night of her engagement with Jeevan, when the drunk bride-to-be leaves the party for her hotel room and gets into bed. What follows is her very first orgasm. Ghungroo, finally, tute gaye! But, with whom?
The morning after, an initially-satisfied Kanika works herself into a frenzy of confusion and frustration as she makes her way through the list of potential men who could’ve been in her room the night before.
Was it one of her exes? She’d simply invited them to come to wish her well.
Was it her fiance?
Or, God forbid, was it actually the rabdi-wala (ice cream man)?
Boolani takes a straight-forward and on-the-nose approach to drive the point home. There are no cutting corners, no mincing words, and no hovering over “taboo topics.” The dialogue is raunchy, the characters are horny, and no one is apologetic. It’s important for a film like “Thank You For Coming” to be so in-your-face because the subject of women achieving orgasms can’t really be presented in any other way. Anything more conservative in the narrative would feel like the makers are being mindful of addressing something prohibited. And there is no room for taboos here.
But, there is room for a more open conversation on the reasons why many women feel the need to suppress their sexual needs in bed; how generally, women have been brought up to be the more desirable gender and hence not cross certain boundaries that would make them appear too brash. The fight for the right of female pleasure would have been a little more effective if the modesty around the topic was addressed. But, that doesn’t mean that the point is remiss.
The plot moves swiftly along, never lulling too long over everything that seems to be going wrong in Kanika’s life. “Thank You For Coming” is full of all the right tropes that belong in a comedic, masala film, too; the direction very seamlessly takes classic fixings like the abhorrent admirer (enter Jeevan-ji) and effectively plugs them into this contemporary feature that will remain perpetually relevant.
And now, let’s come to the star of the show: the well-rounded characters.
Producer Rhea Kapoor has mastered the formula of a good chick flick and her casting is the magic touch. She’s got a knack for bringing together the right actors — cue, “Veere Di Wedding.” So, just when we think that it doesn’t get better than the veere, Kapoor surprises us with a refreshing trio — they’re modern, they’re rebellious, and they say it like it is. Thank you, Dolly Singh (Pallavi Khanna) and Shibani Bedi (Tina Das) for being the yin to Kanika’s yang — and for the bag full of sex toys your homegirl oh-so needed!
To complete Kanika’s story, we have her single mother, Miss. Kapoor, brilliantly portrayed by Natasha Rastogi. She is the face of a headstrong and self-assured matriarch and a symbol of the modern-day Indian woman. Rastogi’s character exemplifies the fact that with access to education, and a stable career, women do not need to mold their lives around men.
I love the fact that Miss. Kapoor is almost villainized by her own mother (played by Dolly Ahluwalia) in the film because she had a child out of wedlock in her yesteryears, she chooses to remain single, and she brings her boyfriends around the house to hang out with. But, there’s a point to be made here. The fact that Kanika’s mother is being antagonized just highlights that she is challenging the norms and pushing the envelope for what is socially acceptable for women. Miss. Kapoor definitely deserves an honorable mention.
Pednekar’s unexpected yet impeccable comic timing is the highlight of the entire film. Everything from being a damsel in sexual distress to a woman who unabashedly chases self-pleasure, Pednekar puts on a genuinely entertaining act for the audience. From being portrayed as a high-schooler to the 32-year-old, independent woman, Pednekar is fit for each role. Her naivety as a teen wins you over, as does her gusto as a full-blown adult with a broken ankle and some very messy relationships. This also speaks volumes about the versatility of her looks.
And, of course, Pednekar is not new to films that address social topics, but “Thank You For Coming” challenges her to balance Kanika’s droll with the responsibility of delivering a very important message to the viewers. Mission accomplished, Ms. Pednekar!
“Thank You For Coming” is a through-and-through entertainer. Everything from the casting — a huge shout out to the rest of the supporting cast including Anil Kapoor, Shehnaaz Gill, Karan Kundra, Kusha Kapila, Gautmik, and Sushant Divkigar, without whom this roller coaster would have lacked the thrills — to the homey locations and even the glitz and glamor in the song sequences, they’re all perfect pieces to help drive home a powerful message: Smash patriarchy!
It’s always a flamboyant affair of colour, emotions and grandeur when Karan Johar directs a film, and his latest blockbuster “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani” is as K Jo as it gets. After recently being recognised at the British House of Parliament for 25 years as a filmmaker, Johar is back to doing what he does best — bringing together families and star-crossed lovers, but this time with a modern touch. He makes a decent attempt at showcasing progressive ideals and feminist issues while taking us on this family-friendly ride.
“Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani” is a larger-than-life film revolving around the love story of a boisterous Rocky (Ranveer Singh) from a wealthy Delhi family, and Rani (Alia Bhatt), a sharp journalist from a progressive Bengali household. And of course, despite belonging to completely different backgrounds and lives, our protagonists, in true Bollywood fashion, fall hopelessly in love through a string of slow-motion gazes, warm embraces and some truly breath-taking song sequences in Kashmir’s snowy mountains. They are then forced to face their opposing families which brings along the family drama in the second half of the film.
The plot is not the film’s strongest point — there’s no real surprise about what’s going to happen next, and yet the film doesn’t fail to keep audiences engaged and pack an emotional punch. This is down to its strong acting, witty dialogues and K Jo’s classic, beautiful cinematography.
Ranveer Singh sinks into the skin of his character with ease – not only does he make the hall burst into laughter with the help of perfectly-timed gags but he pulls off those dreamy gazes ,expected in K Jo’s heroes, to evoke that typical, fuzzy-feeling kind of Bollywood romance. Alia Bhatt’s intelligent and undefeated character is no less a pleasure to watch on screen — not only does she look breath-taking in every shot but her feminist dialogues earn claps and cheers from the audience as she brings a progressive touch to this family drama.
Albeit, while Bhatt’s dialogues do their best to steer this film to the reformist drama it hopes to be, some of Singh’s gags and monologues on cancel culture bring out bumps in the road. The film could have done better to reinforce its points on feminism and racism without using the groups it tries to support as the butt of jokes.
There is also a case to be made about how long these Punjabi and Bengali stereotypes can go on with often gawkish displays of Ranveer’s ‘dilwala-from-Delhi’ character among the overly-polished English from Rani’s Bengali family. But it is with the expertise of the supporting cast, that the film is able to get away with it. Jaya Bachchan in particular is as classy as ever on screen; the stern Dadi Ji holds her ground between the two lovers, while Dada Ji Dharmendra, and Thakuma Shabana Azmi, tug at our heartstrings showing that love truly is for all ages.
Saving the best to last, it is the film’s cinematography that makes the strongest case for audiences to flock to the cinema. The soul-stirring songs steal the show with their extravagant sets and powerful dance performances that treat the audiences to the much-awaited cinematic experience of a K Jo film. While audiences may already be familiar with the viral songs, “What Jhumka?” and “Tum Kya Mile“, it was the family-defying fight for love in “Dhindhora Baje Re” that really gave me goosebumps.
Overall, the film does exactly what it says on the tin and is a family entertainer with something for everyone. It will make you laugh, cry, and cringe at times, but nothing leaves you feeling as romantic as some old school Bollywood with a mix of new school humour, in true K Jo form.
“Ghoomer,” R. Balki’s latest directorial venture, had its world premiere at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2023 (IFFM), earlier this month, and the moment was nothing short of memorable. Lead actors Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher, and Angad Bedi, were present to unveil their labor of love to the world, and all three were left speechless at the reaction of the global audience; the film received a standing ovation on opening night, leaving the team extremely emotional — a feeling that Bachchan tells Brown Girl is one he cannot put into words.
“Ghoomer,” tells the story of Anina (played by Kher), an exceptional cricket player who loses her right hand in an accident. Downtrodden and with no will to live, Anina finds a mentor and coach in Padam Singh Sodhi (played by Bachchan), an insensitive and brash failed cricketer who helps her turn her life and career around; Anina also has the unwavering support of her husband, Jeet (played by Bedi). Sodhi teaches Anina unorthodox techniques to make her mark on the cricket ground once again. Enter, ghoomer, a new style of bowling.
Balki checks all the boxes with this feature — his protagonist is a female athlete, the film is his way of giving back to cricket (a new form of delivery), and he highlights the idea that nothing is impossible for paraplegic athletes. The heart of Balki’s film is in the right place — Kher mentions that the film is meant to be more of an inspirational movie and less of a sports-based movie. One can only imagine the impact that a film like this would have on an audience that’s hungry for meaningful cinema.
And, to chat more about “Ghoomer,” Brown Girl Magazine sat down with the stars of the show. Bachchan, Bedi, and Kher came together to talk about their inspiring characters, the filming journey, and how their film aspires to change the landscape of cricket and paraplegic athletes in the country. It was all that, with a side of samosas.
Take a look!
The featured image is courtesy of Sterling Global.
