The French government will invite former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for the Cannes Fim Festival which will be held in May.

According to reports, a senior diplomat has said that the French government will invite the actress for the 66th Cannes Film Festival that will also celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema.

The Bachchan bahu is a very popular Indian celebrity and has a huge fan base in France. Last year, Aishwarya was honoured with one of the French government's highest civilian awards, Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres), on her birthday.

French Ambassador to India Francois Richier on Saturday told reporters that the beauty queen, who is a mother to 15-month-old girl Aaradhya, is always respected in France because of her association with the film festival over the past 10 years.

"She is very dear to our heart and we are very grateful to her," said Richier, who had conferred the civilian award to the actress on behalf of the French government, according to PTI. "The Cannes festival will have a special focus on Indian Cinema where we will invite Indian film stars," Richier said.

This year, Aishwarya will be walking the red carpet with father-in-law and Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as well as Tamil superstar Rajinikanth.

Big B's first Hollywood debut film "The Great Gatsby" that features Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire has been selected for the opening of the festival. Rajinikant will unveil the trailer of his much awaited film "Kochadaiyaan" at Cannes.

The 66th Cannes Film Festival will take place 15-26 May and Steven Spielberg will be the head of the jury for the main competition.