Aaj mere paas Bachchan hain, Aishwarya hain, Vidya hain, tumhare paas kya hain? Mere paas Rajinikanth hain. 

Sadly, such dramatic assertions are not enough to dispel the notion that Indian cinema is more than just Bollywood. At least, that's what it seems like, looking at the bevy of stars from the Mumbai film industry at the ongoing Canne film festival.
The B-town contingent is reportedly on a mission to show the world that Indian cinema, which is marking its centenary, is more than just Bollywood. Despite no dearth of talent and globally recognized productions, the hugely popular names and films from regional cinema continue to play second fiddle to Bollywood.

"The contribution of regional cinema is immense. Be it Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi or even Bhojpuri films, some of the best films have come out of the regional film industries, spread across the country," says Kannada actor Ramesh Aravind. The Kannada film fraternity believes that it is the oeuvre of legends like Satyajit Ray, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli and others from regional cinema that makes the cinematic journey of India diverse and fascinating in the real sense.