The red carpet at the 79th Festival de Cannes is witnessing a high-stakes Bollywood face-off, but it isn’t happening in front of the cameras.
As L’Oréal Paris celebrates its 29th year at the Festival de Cannes, the spotlight is being shared by veteran icon Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and the international beauty brand’s more recent recruit, Alia Bhatt.
From the time Alia was named as a global ambassador in September 2024, a digital war has erupted on social media as fans of Aishwarya clash with those of Bhatt. While the brand’s theme for 2026 is “confidence and empowerment,” the conversation on social media has drifted into a brutal game of Rai vs Bhatt and ‘who does it better’?
For L’Oréal Paris, the Cannes Film Festival, held between May 12 to May 23, is an iconic moment to bring together its global family of ambassadors and celebrate beauty and women’s empowerment on one of the world’s most prestigious stages.
But with both actors representing L’Oréal Paris, social media users feel the spotlight is more on Bhatt rather than on Aishwarya, who was last seen in Ponniyan Selvan.
Poster row
The controversy this time sparked off when the initial promotional posters for the 2026 campaign were released. The visual featured Alia Bhatt alongside international powerhouses like Viola Davis, Eva Longoria, and Helen Mirren. Aishwarya was missing.
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The glaring absence of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who has been the face of the brand at Cannes for over two decades, triggered an immediate backlash. Fans quickly took to X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram to voice their displeasure. Calling it the “Erasure of a Legend”, netizens slammed the brand for sidelining the “OG” queen of Cannes.
Critics argued that while Alia is a powerhouse in cinema, she lacks the “international aura” and “ethereal grace” that Aishwarya has spent 20 years perfecting on the French Riviera.
Selling dreams or product
Earlier too, during Alia’s debut in the L’Oréal ad campaign in 2024, viral clips from the commercial were dissected by social media users, who picked fault with her performance. “The expressions feel forced and the ‘weird faces’ are just distracting. You can’t manufacture the poise that Aishwarya naturally has,” one viral comment read.
While another that garnered thousands of likes went: “Aishwarya sells a dream; Alia is just selling a product,” wrote one user in a comment that garnered thousands of likes.
Netizens have been comparison-shopping the two ambassadors’ styles since their joint appearance at Paris Fashion Week in late 2024.
While Alia’s metallic silver look was praised by some as “modern and edgy,” loyalists stood by Aishwarya’s dramatic red gown, calling it the gold standard of fashion.
Also read: Aishwarya Rai turns 52: 10 iconic roles beyond Bollywood
The backlash appears to flag a deeper cultural rift: older fans remain fiercely loyal to the classic, statuesque glamour of the 2000s, while the brand is clearly pivoting toward Alia’s “relatable and edgy” Gen Z appeal.
A divided spotlight
L’Oréal’s strategy to promote themes of “confidence and empowerment” by bringing both stars together seems to have inadvertently created a hierarchy in the eyes of the public.
Despite the digital noise, both stars have remained professional, appearing together to promote empowerment. However, for the “L’Oréal Purists”, the brand’s aggressive push of Alia as the new face of India at Cannes feels like a passing of the torch that many aren’t ready to digest.
As the 2026 festival enters its final days, the red carpet appearances will be dissected frame-by-frame. For Alia, the challenge is to prove she belongs on the global stage by her own merit.
For Aishwarya, it’s a simple reminder to the world that while ambassadors may come and go, a legend is forever.
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