Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on Confidence and Why Women Need to Be Their “Best Friend” | Brut Exclusive

These questions are always tricky. Opportunities at any point in time, at every given point in time, we feel are not enough. People are trying to remind me Instagram has started and you know you're not really playing into that space at all. As an artist, honestly, I continue to feel like it's the first day. Different strokes for different folks and there is no right and wrong. Hello. Namaste. I'm Aishwarya Rai Bachchan speaking here at Cannes 2026 to Groot and to all of you lovely people who've just given me so much love and all your good wishes and blessings always. You're my family. So thank you. Love you. If Instagram had existed when you were starting off, what do you think your online persona would have been? I think right now people are trying to remind me Instagram has started and you know you're not really playing into that space at all. So, you know, this question is almost rhetoric when it comes to me, I guess. And I'm not sure I could, I would be answering what you're seeking. Just like every other platforms of social media or media, it's yet or rather social media is another wing of media and media has always existed in different forms. And that is a part of this multi-faceted world of the, you know, of showbiz or cinema or, you know, music, all the artistic industries. So you do work together because that's because this is audience driven and hence it is yet another mode of connectivity. And that's just the way I've always viewed every wing of the media. It's you are our conduit to connect with our audience. And, you know, I just stayed true to that very basic simple way of viewing it and doing all the various, you know, forms of media that have existed, do exist and will exist in the future. What advice would you give young women who aspire to build a career in the industry today? These questions are always tricky because as an artist, honestly, I continue to feel like it's the first day. Each day is the first day and you yourself are on your road of discovery on this journey of creativity. So to be put in a position where a mic is held to you and you're asked to advise, it's a bit too exhorting to be put on a pulpit, which in all humility believe you're still working and striving to earn that kind of adulation. I am grateful for the love and support and thank you so much for appreciation. But I truly feel that your journey in the artistic world or in any world that you choose, be it for passion or career, is individual. And your experiences is what will enrich you, is what will help you discover what choices you can make. Because, you know, different strokes for different folks. So you don't know what's going to work for you, what you're going to think is right or wrong. And there is no right and wrong. It's all in the course of the journey of discovering. So this is the way I tend to speak. I know it's all a bit tangential or deep, the way you want to view it. But all I'd like to say is go out there and discover your passion, be true in your choices. You have to be your best friend because you have to stand by yourself. The rest of what goes on around you is not something you can predict, not something that you should be looking at manufacturing in the current scenario or so much that kind of gets done. And, you know, if it's manufactured, there's no fun, there's no magic, there's no discovering, there's no, you know, on the journey of exploring what all one can do. You have to be alive, you have to experience life and then you can bring that to your art. So be true to who you are, be a best friend, be brutally honest with yourself and be curious, be willing to be a student of life and everything else will find its place as is meant to be on the journey. But what's important is to live your journey. At this stage in your career, what kind of story does genuinely excite you and make you want to step in? That cannot be defined because, you know, when you hear a script, you just know when it has excited you or when it's inspired you or it's made you curious and you want to discover the journey as an artist. So art can never be contained, cannot be defined, but you just know when you feel the magic and that's when you want to embrace it. What still excites you walking into the red carpet? You're just all being so kind and so loving. I mean, absolute gratitude on my part. I'm so, so grateful to all my Venetians world over. You have given me so much love and I'm so overwhelmed, I'm so touched. The welcome here has been heartwarming and superlative and I can't thank you all enough for all your love, all your best wishes and blessings. Thank you. You are my family and I take this opportunity through you to thank everybody from my soul. Love you. Right back. God bless. How do initiatives like the Lights of Venice work to create real change? I think, well in my opinion, I look at it as catalyzing the movement for change, to accelerate the process. It's all contributing to strengthen opportunities for women in cinema and when these platforms are created, it's incredible to encourage talent in our industry and especially for women because opportunities at any point in time, at every given point in time, we feel are not enough and we could certainly do with a lot more opportunities for so many talents that come together in the making of cinema. So, I think it's just wonderful that we have such platforms and here's to many more. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Pleasure. Pleasure. Thank you. Thank you so much.