NEW DELHI: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been conferred a civilian award by the French government for her contribution to the arts.

French Ambassador Francois Richier conferred the prestigious honour of ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters‘ to her.

Aishwarya thanked the French government and her family for their support, and expressed gratitude towards her colleagues. The honour is bestowed on those showing exceptionable contribution to arts in France and the rest of the world. Noted celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Nandita Das have received the honour in the past.

The entire Bachchan family, other than Jaya Bachchan, was present at the event. Aishwarya‘s daughter Aradhaya was also there. Others included actress Nandita Das, socialite Parmeshwar Godrej, and filmmaker Pritish Nandy.

After winning the Miss World crown in 1994, Aishwarya debuted as an actress in Mani Ratnam‘s 1997 Tamil movie ‘Iruvar’. Later she had super hits like ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Taal’, ‘Guru’, ‘Jodhaa Akhbar’ and ‘Devdas’ among others.