Cannes 2025: Did Urvashi Rautela bring a parrot to world's most-watched red carpet?

Dubai: Is it fashion, performance art, or an elaborate troll bait? Bollywood actress Urvashi Rautela, who has carved a niche for herself at Cannes as the queen of over-the-top fashion and even more exaggerated self-claims, turned heads (and sparked memes) on the Cannes 2025 red carpet with a crystal-studded parrot-shaped clutch.

The flamboyant handbag — reportedly worth a cool Dh20,592 — did not escape the collective eye-roll of the Internet.

One Instagram user put it best: “Moulin Rouge meets Mayur Vihar realness.” Another deadpanned, “Is this satire on camp or camp on satire?”

Rautela paired the glittering avian accessory with a Dubai-based designer Michael Cinco's structured gown in unapologetic shades of red, blue, and yellow, topped with a headpiece that some likened to “Jagran couture” — a nod to her now-iconic viral dance number Dabidi Dabidi from Daaku Maharaaj.

Fashion watchdog Diet Sabya, never one to miss a moment, reposted Urvashi’s look, inviting the usual onslaught of snark and speculation. Comments ranged from “Is she being ironic?” to “We want a performance to go with that bird.”

For years now, Urvashi has found herself at the center of online mockery, partly thanks to her grandiose claims in interviews — often presenting herself as the “first Indian actress to…” [insert dubious feat]. This year, it appears she might just be the first Indian celebrity to trend globally for wearing a bird.

But maybe that’s the plan?

In an era of virality over subtlety, Rautela knows how to stay meme-relevant. Whether that’s a PR strategy or pure delusion is still up for debate.

One thing’s clear: the parrot may not talk, but the Internet sure did.