Aishwarya Rai to promote latest movie at Cannes festival

NEW DELHI — Aishwarya Rai has become a regular at the Cannes Film Festival in recent years.

The Bollywood beauty has attended the annual festival in France since 2002, when her movie Devdas, a remake of an Indian classic, was shown. She has also been a jury member.

"Coming to Cannes is a great high. ... It's a beautiful city with great people and films," The Times of India newspaper quoted Rai as saying in Wednesday's editions.

"I don't get to visit many (film) festivals, but Cannes is truly one event I do try to attend each year," she said.

Her new movie Provoked, directed by Jagmohan Mundra, was to screen at the festival Thursday. Mundra said the film is a departure from Rai's usual boy-meets-girl movies.

In Provoked, Rai plays the role of Kiranjit, a woman who kills her husband after suffering torture at his hands for 10 years.

"I was immediately taken with the story and Kiranjit's character. ... I realized the importance of the film, especially for women and the issue of domestic violence," the actress said.

A former Miss World, Rai is a big star in India and has appeared in more than 30 movies. She starred in Gurinder Chadha's Bride & Prejudice in 2004.