Leave Aishwarya's purple lips alone

While Twitter exploded with memes over Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's lavender lips at the red carpet of this year's Cannes Film Festival on May 15, actors Ranveer Singh, Govinda and Riteish Deshmukh laid back in their plush lazy-boy recliners and coolly sipped on Tom Collins, a casual smirk on their faces.

At least that's what one would think, given how they've all gotten away scot-free from such a frenzied critique, despite their zany fashion choices and sometimes, incomprehensible style.

Also read - 15 stunning years of Aishwarya at Cannes (including the purple perplex)

Neither have their acting skills nor movie promotions been checked by the sartorial risks, be it showing up in a dressing gown and cartoon slippers or canary yellow dungarees on a grown man.

Meanwhile, amidst all the smurf kissing and jamun jokes that Ash's make-up style kicked up, the real-life story of the Indian farmer Sarabjit from Punjab who was convicted as a spy and languished in jail for 23 years in Pakistan was lost, or at least dimmed in the din.

A quick search on the internet will reveal that it is primarily the Indian news and blogging community that has beauty-bashed the actress, even though she was at the French Riviera to represent Indian cinema and celebrate 15 years of her presence as an Indian at the international event.

The criticism was definitely a great way to distract people from the fact that the event also marked her comeback to films after years (as if her lips weren't distracting enough).

Also read - 15 years of Aishwarya at Cannes and we get purple lips?

The jokes went down, and so did possible praise for taking such a fashion risk. Somewhere we forgot that dress-up was meant to be fun, too. But let the Lady Gaga's and Kim K's of the world make a fortune off their bizarre fashion choices; the message we're more comfortable with is that an Indian actress should reinvent classic beauty.

Why toe the line when one's work has been laid out so clearly - look pretty, be somewhat conventional and smile demurely 24/7.

Given that a recent study revealed that on average, only 11 per cent of Indian women have high self-esteem and feeling of self-worth, it's shocking how callously we have jumped on the bandwagon to assess another woman's success and failure based on her looks.

It's bad enough that young girls are being pressured into looking pretty by family members, social media and the unrealistic standards of botox-ridden Bollywood.

Also read - 6 India-inspired looks Sonam Kapoor aced at Cannes 2016

How are we gaining, as a society and as women belonging to the fourth Feminist wave in human history, by sizing up other women through their looks and letting it overshadow their achievements?

Why are we following an old mould of behaviour, which was cast in a feudal and patriarchal system, by feeding and perpetuating it?

Meanwhile, Sonam Kapoor was also made fun of, comparing her Ralph & Russo gown to a rumali roti and yogurt spilled on the red carpet. With it, we momentarily forgot that she is the same actress who did a praiseworthy portrayal of the heroic 22-year-old airhostess Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life to rescue passengers on a Pan Am flight in 1986.

Why let a dress become the be-all and end-all of all our victories?

The Cannes Film Festival is first and foremost a celebration of cinema, and it is a great honour to go there as part of a movie. We need to celebrate the hard work and talent of the women who have arrived there, to reinforce the pride that goes with doing good work. To be fair, it's the only measure of success, and it's time women were acknowledged in the same way.