The Cannes Film Festival or the International Film festival at Cannes, France is an annual event that screens and discusses films and awards filmmakers. for their extraordinary contribution to films. In the recent years, the red carpet to film premeires and parties has become super glamourous owning to the celebrities who attend them in bespoke designer outfits. However, to keep the attention on films and make the festival less of a Met Gala and more of a film festival the organisers imposed several restrictions this year.
Despite these restrictions actors, influencers and models dressed to the nines glammed the event. Indian media spotted an important micro trend – The “Desi Core” during the festival which seemed to spill over from the Met Gala. While this is not an emerging trend, its penetration in India might be more significant at the present due to media focus. Before I present the Indian Picture jewellery worn at Cannes 2025, let me elaborate a bit on Desi Core.
Desi Core
Desi core is about showcasing Desi (Indian) cultural values, colours, textiles, motifs at international events and locations. It is about being connected to your Indian roots and proudly showing it (and your Desi identity) off without blending in at International events. It is prioritising Indianness over western practices, ideas, style, clothing, etc. While what this Indianness constitutes of is still debatable, the unbashed portrayal of Indian looks particularly by Millenials and Gen Z is making the media go wild. Some recent examples of Desi Core include the singer Diljit Dosanjh’s Maharaja Duleep Singh lookat the Met Gala, and actresses Aishwariya Rai and Aditi Rao Hydari’s sindoor based looks at Cannes.
(Images – Left to right in the same order as described above).
Indian Picture jewellery at Cannes 2025
While the above three looks are textbook Desi Core, there are more sub-styles to this trend. I was particularly excited by the Indian Picture jewellery at Cannes 2025.
Even though it was introduced by the British in India, picture jewellery, in my opinion is a small but important part of India’s cultural heritage. It is an excellent example of how much Indians have Indianised a practice and made it their own. As a picture jewellery maker, I want to discuss two distinctive picture jewellery pieces – a necklace and a hair accessory and their wearers who have been greatly discussed in media in the past two weeks.
Nitanshi Goel’s Parandi
Actress Nitanshi Goel (of Laapatha Ladies fame) wore a faux pearl parandi styled by Shrey and Urja and created by the brand BeAbhika by Madhulika Anchalia and Abhishek Bardia. A parandi is a hair ornament or a tassel that is used at the end of the plait to keep it straight. While similar hair tassels known as Kunjam, Kunjalam are worn across India, Parandi is worn in Punjab and Haryana (North Western India). While a parandi is typically worn at the end of the plait, contemporary brands make hairband-like pieces that can be worn as a part of a ponytail, on buns and with waterfall hairstyles.
Goel’s parandi includes photographic prints of yesteryear Indian film actresses such as Sridevi, Rekha, Madhubala, Nargis, Meenakumari, Nuthan, Asha Parekh, Waheeda Rehman, Vyjayanthimala and Hemamalini, framed by stainless steel photo frames as a tribute to these legends. The hair accessory belongs to the category of sentiment picture jewellery. However, the images are not of a personal nature but signifies both the actress’s love for films and her affiliation to the Indian film industry. The pictures brought about the sentiment behind the gesture and the piece has received rave reviews across the web.
Ruchi Gujjar’s Modiji necklace
Model Ruchi Gujjar wore a shimmering gold ghagra choli (skirt and blouse) with dupattas in pink and gold by design Roopa Sharmaa. She wore jewels such as rakdi or borla (hair ornament) and bangles worn by certain tribes of Rajasthan. Her hands were covered in aalta and fingertips were dipped in gold. But the pièce de résistance was the Jadau – polki and meenakari necklace by the brand the Silver Saga by Neha. It featured three medallions of Shri Narendra Modi, Honourable Prime Minister of India on enamelled lotus bases. See close-ups of the necklace in her Instagram post here.
In several interviews, Gujjar remarked that she wore the necklace as a symbol of National pride. Being an army kid, she wanted to appreciate the leadership shown by the Prime Minister of India during Operation Sindoor. This political jewellery was positioned as being the “symbol of strength, vision, and India’s rise on the world stage.”
Public perception and reactions
Nitanshi’s parandi has been appreciated and she has been called “an angel, Cinderella, beautiful, and respectful of her culture.” Ruchi’s look and the necklace received mixed reviews. Wearing the necklace was interpreted as a sign of her political affiliation and was appreciated. However, she was chastised for wearing the image of a National leader for publicity sake and the décolleté blouse was considered distasteful and disrespectful to pair with the image of the leader of the Country. Good, bad or ugly, I am elated that both Indian and International media are discussing picture jewellery though they are incorrectly calling it photo frame jewellery.
My thoughts as a jeweller and a researcher
In my opinion, the favourable reactions to Nitanshi’s look is due to the colour harmony, the delicateness of her silhouette, fabrics used and the pearls. Though I like the concept, I am not a fan of the materials used or the making. In contrast, Ruchi’s necklace is well made and innovatively combines traditional techniques of gem setting and enamelling with their contemporary evolutions. As a necklace it is super interesting. However, the styling is a real let down. The low neckline, shimmering fabrics and the bridal silhouette do not suit the necklace. It would have looked much better worn on top of a close neck/Mandarin collared kurta or a jacket.
This is one person’s opinion. What do you think about these pieces and the reactions to them? In your opinion, what kind of picture jewellery can be worn to red carpet events and how should they be styled. Tell me in the comments.
I hope you find it interesting
Cheers
What do you think?