Mindy Kaling stole the spotlight at this year's Met Gala with her stunning appearance in a beige sculptural gown. Designed by Indian fashion designer Gaurav Gupta, the custom creation earned praise from Mindy Kaling, who called Gaurav Gupta a "genius" during an interview with Vogue on the red carpet. Called "The Melting Flower of Time," the intricately textured gown quickly became a favourite of the evening. However, some eagle-eyed netizens couldn't help but draw comparisons to a previous ensemble worn by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.
For the unversed, Aishwarya's outfit was also crafted by Gaurav Gupta. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's pink gown, which required 3500 hours of meticulous craftsmanship, is the original of Mindy Kaling's version. The difference - Ash's dress was inspired by a seashell, Mindy's by the Met's floral theme.
Diet Sabya spotted the similarity instantly and shared a comparison of Aishwarya and Mindy wearing similar Gaurav Gupta designs. The Instagram handle, which keeps the fashion industry honest, was not impressed, writing, "Gutsss."
Soon after, several social media users flooded the comment section and pointed out the striking resemblance between the two outfits. An Instagram user commented, "Aish will always have the “been there done that” representation on the global level." While a comment read, "Trust Mindy Kaling to make anything look U-G-L-Y. Feeling sad for GG. Nobody deserves such a flop as a first time, especially at the Mecca of fashion. An extra glass of wine for GG from me," another one commented, "guts toh hai, but you could see she couldn't stop smiling cuz of the dress."
A comment read, "They're the same picture." Yet another one wrote, " Representing India” as she said."
An X user wrote, "The same Aishwarya Rai dress at Cannes 2022." Another one shared Mindy Kaling's photo and simply wrote "Aish."
Before making her appearance on the red carpet, Mindy Kaling said, "It makes me really happy to rep such talented geniuses who happen to be from my community. If you look at the cape, you can see that it looks like a flower that was once blossoming is now melting."
ICYMI: The dress code for this year's Met Gala "The Garden of Time," draws inspiration from J.G. Ballard's 1962 short story of the same name.
On the work front, Mindy Kaling is working on a Netflix show featuring Kate Hudson, inspired by the life of Jeanie Buss, the president of the Los Angeles Lakers.