The Cannes film festival begins!

Even as the prestigious 57th Cannes film festival gets underway, workers set the stage for the grand opening on May 12.

The 12-day festival at the French Riveria will feature film screenings, parties, publicity and awards.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai) premiered at Cannes in 2002. And last year, Aishwarya was selected one of the jury members. She rubbed shoulders with the likes of Meg Ryan, Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein and director Steven Soderberg (Ocean's Eleven, Erin Brockovich).

This year, Subhash Ghai will address a round table conference at the festival. He will also promote his film, Kisna, starring Vivek Oberoi, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Isha Sharvani, Om Puri, Amrish Puri and British actors Antonio Bernath, Michael Maloney, Caroline Langrishe and Polly Adams.

Photograph: Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images