Cannes 2017: Deepika Padukone's red carpet appearances underline her star power

As the kids say, Deepika Padukone has been slaying it. The actress made a splash in her first outing as an ambassador for L’Oreal at the on-going Cannes Film Festival. In a sea of whites and taupe, Deepika was a vision in bold emerald green, berry purple and sunshine yellow. [caption id=“attachment_3463030” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Deepika Padukone poses for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film Loveless at the 70th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, 18 May 2017. AP Photo[/caption] This wasn’t Deepika’s first visit to Cannes. Seven years ago, she attended the premiere of Mathieu Amalric’s French film Tournee as the brand ambassador of Chivas Regal. For her Cannes debut, Deepika took the six-yard route wearing a cream and gold Rohit Bal saree with kundan jewellery. This was the year of middling films like Lafangey Parindey, Break Ke Baad and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey. It seemed like Deepika was still trying to find herself as an artist. Like her films, her red carpet choice at Cannes didn’t make anyone go ‘WOW’. Seven years later, Deepika pulled out all the stops. Helping her pick a eclectic and dazzling wardrobe for the festival was Elizabeth Saltzman, who in the past has dressed celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Saoirse Ronan and Uma Thurman. Elizabeth has been styling Deepika for all her international appearances since the beginning of the year. In the 48 hours Deepika spent in Cannes, she turned heads with every look — whether it was the pink Balenciaga sheath at a L’Oreal event or the risqué jewel-toned Marchesa gown during the opening night ceremonies. Her showstopper moment came at the premiere of Loveless on the second night of the film festival. For her final Cannes red carpet of the year, Deepika wore an emerald Brandon Maxwell that was paired with dramatic jewel-toned green eye make-up and De Grisogono diamond earrings. She looked like a movie star. This whirlwind Cannes trip seems to be a continuation of Deepika’s introduction to the West. The actress made her Hollywood debut earlier this year with Hollywood heavyweight Vin Diesel in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. Deepika’s outing as the ass-kicking, gun toting Serena was one of the highlights of the action film. xXx  might have received mixed reviews but it grossed over $364 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing films of the year. The release was bookended by red carpet appearances around the world, award shows, after parties and rounds of American talk shows from James Corden to Ellen DeGeneres.     While Deepika is busy wooing the West, she hasn’t had a Bollywood release since Bajirao Mastani. In 2015, the actress delivered exceptional performances in Piku and Tamasha before ending the year with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period love story. Padmavati, her next release is also with Bhansali and it’s another period love story. The film has been in troubled waters since the shoot started in November last year. There has been a fire and a mob attack on the sets of the film that’s resulted in filming being stalled. One just hopes that Bhansali’s confidence in sticking to the December 2017 release date is not misplaced.     Regardless of Padmavati’s release date, this has been already been quite a year for Deepika — and we are not even halfway through!