Cannes 2026: Alia Bhatt stuns in blush-pink gown, calls out Bollywood's male-dominated box office trends

For her second outing at the 2026 edition of the festival, Alia Bhatt stepped out in a blush pink strapless gown. The structured corset gave the silhouette its sculpted edge, while soft, floating drapes around the arms.

A pink gemstone necklace and matching earrings tied the look together, while her makeup stayed firmly in the minimal zone, nude lips, soft eyes, and a glow that probably had its own lighting technician. Loose waves completed the look.

She attended the opening ceremony and premiere of The Electric Kiss, marking another confident step in her growing Cannes presence after her 2025 debut.

Earlier in the day...

Before the red carpet glow-up, Alia had already shared a glimpse of her love for fairytale magic.

She appeared in a 1950s-inspired creation by designer Yash Patil, a sculpted bodice paired with a drop waist and a voluminous skirt layered in ombré silk organza and tulle.

But the real twist was in the details: Hand-painted artwork by Basuri Chokshi, evoking the French Riviera in brushstrokes, lavender fields, coastal light.

In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter India on the sidelines of the festival, Alia Bhatt also raised a pointed question about Bollywood’s box office obsession with hero-led successes, asking why the conversation still tends to orbit a single gender when talking about big hits.

“When I look at the landscape, I think we’re in a very fascinating time today… If you take a look at the box office, you will see the films that have done phenomenally well: Barbie, Wuthering Heights, and The Devil Wears Prada. These are a few; I am sure there are way more, and their main audience, perhaps, was women. Women were showing up, watching these films, which have now become massive hits,” Alia said.

Talking about Indian cinema, Alia mentioned, “But in India, when we talk about box office and numbers, there is a conversation that comes up pretty often, which is 75% of the movie-going audience is male, so we need to cater to the masses."

She added that this is a recurring conversation. "I wonder if we are catering just to the men, then what happens to the women? Why do we have to cater to one gender?" She also mentioned the need for films, where storytelling takes centrestage. "So, whether it stars a man or a woman, that should not matter. It is the storytelling that should matter. I’m just hoping we have more of that.”

The L’Oréal spotlight moment and the internet reaction storm

As a global ambassador for L'Oréal Paris, Alia also featured prominently in the brand’s Cannes 2026 campaign visuals at Hotel Martinez, standing alongside global names like Viola Davis, Eva Longoria, and Helen Mirren.

But the placement sparked an online storm back home, with fans of longtime Cannes icon Aishwarya Rai Bachchan questioning her absence from the spotlight imagery. The reaction quickly snowballed across social media, turning a brand moment into a wider conversation about legacy, representation, and star power in global beauty campaigns.