Ash-Abhi wow Cannes

A lot was happening around India at the idyllic French Riviera where the Cannes Film Festival was held.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wowed the world in her designer ensembles while husband Abhishek Bachchan inaugurated the first-ever India pavilion at the festival.

The Cannes Film Festival Association has joined hands with Assocham to woo Indian audiences and promote the festival in India. As Abhishek opened the India Pavilion at the beachfront, a crowd of photographers, autographs seekers and fans gathered to cheer him on.

Though Aishwarya was not present, Subhash Ghai, Deepti Naval, Manisha Koirala, producer Bobby Bedi and Christian Jeune, deputy general-delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, were in attendance.

NRI billionaire Prakash Hinduja, another attendee, said that some way must be found to break the dry Indian spell. "After all, we make world class movies, and we should be able to place at least one Indian film in every festival, including Cannes," he said. The pavilion screened 40 acclaimed Bollywood films by top directors.