Cannes 2025: Jury member Payal Kapdia walks red carpet in grey powersuit

On Tuesday, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia walked the red carpet at Cannes 2025 Film Festival as a jury member. She first made an appearance for the opening press conference along with fellow jury members. Ahead of the official opening ceremony, Kapadia walked the red carpet in a power suit designed by Arjun Saluja and styled by Indrakshi Pattanaik. She paired the outfit with statement silver jewellery.

About Payal Kapadia`s look for Cannes 2025 red carpet 

Speaking about styling Payal Kapadia, stylist Indrakshi Pattanaik said, “Payal is a dear friend. She loves the 80s power suit style and I really wanted to explore that in her look. And Arjun [Saluja] was the best person to execute the vision. Arjun and I have been meaning to collaborate for a while for Payal and I am glad it all fell into place.”

Payal Kapadia#Cannes2025 pic.twitter.com/JsLqhg253j

— Ellys Is Alone (@ellysmelancholy) May 13, 2025

The award-winning filmmaker wanted her outfit to be as comfortable as possible. “The idea was more about comfort for Payal. It was like character designing for her, making her look like herself. And given this year’s dresscode theme, which said no sheer, no over the top, no voluminous styles, Payal kept it minimal yet chic.”

Payal added an Indian touch to her look with statement silver jewellery. 

Payal marks her return to Cannes

This marks Payal`s return to Cannes a year after she charted history as the first Indian director to win the Grand Prix for her debut feature film `All We Imagine As Light`, a joint India and France production. The Malayalam-Hindi movie became the first film from India to be part of Cannes Competition after a 30-year gap.
The director appeared alongside Cannes jury president and French cinema star Juliette Binoche, American actor and filmmaker Halle Berry, Italian actor Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani, Congolese director-producer Dieudo Hamadi, Korean director and screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas and American actor Jeremy Strong.

Earlier for the jury photocall ahead of the festival`s opening ceremony, Kapadia chose a blue blouse and a red asymmetrical skirt ensemble by designer Payal Khandwala, who also dressed the acclaimed filmmaker for her appearance on the red carpet of the Golden Globes 2025 ceremony earlier this year.

In the past, Indian film personalities such as Mrinal Sen, Mira Nair, Shekhar Kapur, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nandita Das, Sharmila Tagore, Vidya Balan, and Deepika Padukone have served on the Cannes jury.

This article first appeared on Mid Day