MUMBAI: Bollywood actress Vidya Balan turned to her fashion designer best friend Sabyasachi Mukherjee before she was to appear at the most prestigious film festival in the world, Cannes. 

She patronizes the designer at nearly every film event, so it only made sense for her to turn to Sabya when called upon to serve as a jury member at the International film festival, held in the seaside city of Cannes, in France.

Her brief to Sabyasachi was simple: “Sabya, I want to be Indian,” she said? And Sabya’s imaginary reference was a “Golconda princess”.

“We’ll do a purist movement,” he said. “She’s basically a fictitious character in my head. The most aspirational look in India is royalty. But I didn’t want to do royalty that was stereotypical, I wanted to do royalty that was cultural.”

On display at the fitting was Vidya as a contemporary Maharani Gayatri Devi, all elegantly dolled up in a khadi two-tone sari, a string of oversized pearls, and a pair of dark sunglasses. Her hair neatly tied up in a bun, and minimal jewelry, including statement pieces by Amrapali jewels, completed the graceful look.