The worry gnawing Indians attending the 72nd Cannes Film Festival is the nation's absence in the event's official selection. That is the broad drift of the pronouncements being made in India Pavilion on the French Riviera, where filmmakers from the world's most populous nation gather to explore wider avenues.

Two men who have seen better times in Cannes Delhi-based producer Bobby Bedi and Malayali filmmaker Shaji N Karun are among those who are making the trip to the French Riviera this year. Twenty-five years ago, in 1994, both Bedi and Shaji had a film each playing on the Croisette.