‘Indian women have a heart of gold’: French woman’s comment at Cannes goes viral

The 79th Festival de Cannes saw a strong Indian presence, with films and big stars from the country gracing the prestigious annual cinema gala. Amid all the red-carpet moments and film screenings, one candid, unscripted moment has captured the internet’s attention. A French woman’s heartfelt words about women in India are now grabbing eyeballs.In a video shared by Jayanti Waghdhare, a podcaster and content creator, a French woman is seen praising Indian women. The video, supposedly captured in Cannes, shows a local woman expressing genuine admiration for Indian women. The woman is seen speaking directly to the camera: “Indian women have a heart of gold.”She further added, “And India needs to realise that women are the strongest beings.”The woman’s voice carried the sincerity and conviction of her words. In the backdrop, one can also see the podcaster posing for pictures. The video has gone viral on Instagram, with over 1.2 million views and several comments. Many netizens acknowledged the incredible strength, resilience and fortitude that Indian women possess. Several women commented on the video, expressing how proud they felt hearing such beautiful words about how the world finally sees them.“So sweet,” one Instagram user commented on the reel. Another woman resonated: “Proud.” A third user expressed that they felt emotional as well as proud of the kind words: “lowkey emotional but proud. Indian women have always been that silent power holding everything together, carrying generations forward. Now the world sees it too, that same energy we grew up around...”For one Instagram user, the video simply made their day. “Wow, great... feeling proud,” the comment read.Meanwhile, after 12 days of premieres, standing ovations, fashion moments and film discussions, the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival concluded on Saturday, 23 May 2026, on the French Riviera. This year was notable for South Asia at the Cannes Film Festival, even though no Indian feature films were part of the official selection. India had six films at Cannes 2026 overall, but only two were official festival selections with screenings. Mehar Malhotra’s short film Shadows of the Moonless Nights (La Cinef section) and the restored version of John Abraham’s 1985 film Amma Ariyan (Cannes Classics) were the two films. On the other hand, Indian celebrities, including Aishwarya Rai, Alia Bhatt, Aditi Rao Hydari, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Tara Sutaria, among others, made notable appearances at Cannes 2026.