02 November,2012 08:20 AM IST | | IANS
Francois Richier, ambassador of France to India, conferred the honour of prestigious 'Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters' on her at a hotel here.u00a0On receiving the award, Aishwarya said: 'I want to thank the French government for honouring me with the award. It's truly overwhelming. I thank you in all humility.'
She thanked her family for their support and expressed her gratitude towards her colleagues.u00a0'I want to thank every professional who I have worked with and who made it possible for me to have such a glorious career,' she said.u00a0The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters honour is given to people who have shown exceptionable contribution to arts in France and the rest of the world.
In the past, noted celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Nandita Das received the honour.u00a0The entire Bachchan family, except Jaya Bachchan, were present at the event. Aishwarya's daughter Aradhaya was also there.u00a0Besides her family, actress Nandita Das, Parmeshwar Godrej and filmmaker Pritish Nandy were also present on the occasion among others.
Aishwarya turned 39 Thursday, so a cake cutting ceremony was also organised for her.u00a0After winning the Miss World crown in 1994, Aishwarya debuted as an actress in Mani Ratnam's 1997 Tamil movie 'Iruvar'. Later she did Hindi movies like 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam',' Guru', 'Jodhaa Akhbar' and 'Devdas'.u00a0
