Alia Bhatt on Her Chaotic Cannes Film Festival Debut, Swathed in a Gucci Sari

“I truly thrive in this sort of chaos,” Alia Bhatt says, “ the chaos always tends to find us.”

Indeed, just hours before Vogue meets the Heart of Stone and Jigra actor on the Croisette, she had to wait through a massic hotel power outage as she prepared for the closing ceremony at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Her hairstylist even wrapped her hair extensions in a curling iron and laid them out in the sun to heat up.

“I’m a trooper! No emotion is constant,” Bhatt adds with a laugh, describing how she navigates such a major event. “I blend into the chaos part of it, but I’m still finding my calm on the red carpet.”

Later, when Vogue glimpses Bhatt again, she’s effortlessly riding the red carpet wave among the flashing camera lights for the closing ceremony, wearing a custom Gucci interpretation of a traditional Indian sari. (“When it comes to an outfit…there’s nothing more endless or timeless than a sari,” Bhatt previously told Vogue while getting ready for the 2024 Met Gala.)

Today’s look is a sensual, minimal silhouette with a dramatic drape and the classic GG monogram: “Signature Italian glamour mixed with Indian exuberance,” as Bhatt’s stylist Rhea Kapoor puts it. Bhatt is also carrying a custom mini Jackie bag; in India, it’s customary to pair a sari with a small purse. “I’m done with quiet luxury, it’s over for me, bye!” jokes Kapoor. “I think there are times you whisper, and there are times you scream with joy—and I think this is one of those times.” Of course: This has been Bhatt’s Cannes debut, and she’s Gucci’s first Indian brand ambassador.

Alongside Kapoor, she’s here with a close-knit team that also includes longtime makeup artist Puneet B Saini and hairstylist Amit Thakur. Given all the traveling they do together, “It’s important we like each other!” Bhatt notes. (After this, she’s back to India to film another project.)

She describes Kapoor as “the one and only stylist who can make me do things I’d never do because she has a persuasive, gentle, very clear tone. If she envisions it, it has to happen.”

And what a vision Kappor had this time: Swathed in her Gucci sari, curled hair tousled and eyes earthy and smoked out, Bhatt then makes for the elevator to close out Cannes in style.