“India’s strongest Cannes 2026 presence is not coming from Bollywood spectacle. It is coming from Malayalam restoration cinema, Punjabi student filmmaking, Gujarati box-office momentum, and regional stories travelling globally without changing their identity.” WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED India has arrived at Cannes 2026 with one of its most regionally diverse line-ups in recent years — and notably, the conversation is not being dominated by Hindi cinema. Malayalam classic Amma Ari