Aishwarya Rai Bachchan believes society needs to get rid of the prejudice that women, who like dressing up, lack substance. The actor said that one must also not assume that a woman who does not prefer applying makeup lacks in colour.

"We as women need to stop judging each other. If you apply makeup that doesn't mean you don't have brains. It doesn't mean you lack in substance. It does not mean that you are not sensitive or compassionate," she said in a media interaction over video from Cannes.

The actor walked the red carpet at Cannes for cosmetic giant L'Oreal Paris for the 15th year. "At the same time, if you choose not to use make up, it doesn't mean you are a disinterested person or a person lacking in colour. Or that you are brainy just because you don't put make up. Or that you are too serious and not a fun-loving person," the actor added.

Aishwarya said that when it came to grooming, society needed to break free from these "pre-conceived notions". At the French Riviera, 82 women had protested against the gender inequity in the film industry, led by the Competition jury chairperson Cate Blanchett and Agnes Varda.

Eighty-two, incidentally, is the number of films by female directors which have premiered in competition at Cannes this year, as compared to 1,645 made by male directors. "We witnessed such an incredible moment with 82 women from the cinema together on the red carpet, representing all of us. I wish I was called but that's the number they wanted in order to represent the comparison between the number of female directors and 1600 male directors whose films are being shown at Cannes. We, as women want, that number to change," Aishwarya said.