67th Republic Day: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan 'honoured' over luncheon with French president

New Delhi: Bollywood stunner Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is feeling honoured and rightly so, as the actress has been invited to a special lunch with French President François Hollande, who is in the country on a three-day visit.

The French President attended the 67th Republic Day parade on Rajpath today as the chief guest, becoming the fifth serving French president to do so. 

Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wore an elegant red designer Banarasi silk sari for the special lunch with French President François Hollande here on Tuesday. 

The actress, who has been in the midst of shooting her new film "Sarbjit", took time out from her busy schedule to attend the lunch which was organised in Hollande's honour by French Ambassador Francois Richier. 

Richier invited the 42-year-old actress for the lunch honour. "She is the only one from the film industry to be invited, so it's a great honour," said a source close to the actress. 

Aishwarya, all ready for the lunch, looks ravishing in red in an image shared by her publicist.

"Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wishes all her well wishers a very happy Republic Day," read the caption to the image featuring the former beauty queen, who adorned polki jewellery and a bunched up hairdo for the occasion. A simple bindi and red lipstick completed her look.

The sari that Aishwarya has worn is from designer duo Swati and Sunaina, and made in Banaras -- age-old weavers from where are poised for a facelift courtesy Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Woven with fine mulberry silk and zari made from pure silver threads dipped in gold, the sari is called ‘mehraab’ after the shape of the ‘buta’ that is woven across the six-yard wonder.

What's special is that only natural fibres and eco-friendly dyeing has been used in the making of this sari, and it is woven using the 'kadhuwa' technique, a source close to the designers, told IANS.

It's only perfectly suited that Aishwarya chose a creation that's deeply rooted in Indian technique and craft to meet the president of France, a country that she's had a great connect with for long.

Aishwarya is a regular at the Cannes International Film Festival, where the first look of "Jazbaa" -- her comeback film post pregnancy -- was launched last year.

An actress who has featured in Bollywood films like "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam", "Dhoom 2", "Guru" and "Devdas", Aishwarya is also an ambassador of French cosmetics and beauty company L'Oréal Paris, for which she recently starred in an ad with Eva Longoria.

In fact, she even shot for her international film "Pink Panther 2" in Paris.

(With IANS inputs)