Nine Indians who have served on the Cannes Film Festival jury: Aishwarya to Deepika

Deepika Padukone arguably has one of the most important jobs at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

As a member of the nine-person jury, she will be instrumental in choosing the winner of the 21 films in contention, including one for the coveted Palme d'Or.

Alongside her is veteran French actor Vincent Lindon as chairman of the jury, as well as British actress and director Rebecca Hall, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Italian actress and director Jasmine Trinca, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, French director Ladj Ly, American director Jeff Nichols and Norwegian director Joachim Trier.

Padukone may have made history in recent weeks by becoming the first Indian to be a Louis Vuitton ambassador, but she is certainly not the first from her country to play such a significant role in Cannes.

It's been nine years since someone from India appeared on the jury, but here are eight other famous faces who have served in the past.

Mrinal Sen

Filmmaker Mrinal Sen is the man who can claim to be the first Indian jury member at Cannes. He joined the group in 1982, the year before his film Kharij won the jury prize. Other films of his to be presented in France include Ek Din Pratidin, Khandar and Genesis.

Mira Nair

Next up was notable director Mira Nair, who served on the jury in 1990. Nair has many accolades and nominations to her name, and her debut feature film Salaam Bombay!, which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in 1988, won the Camera d'Or and Grand Prix du Publique in Cannes, alongside numerous other awards.

Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy may be better known for her literary prowess, having won the Booker Prize for her novel The God Of Small Things, published in 1997, but she was invited to join the Cannes film jury back in 2000. The author and activist's early career focused on screenplays and she's written for television, too.