"Why no Malayalam film at Dubai Film Festival, Madam?" a film fan asked me online recently. It is great to know that film fans feel so proprietory about the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), but it isn't exactly my baap ka maal, even though I've been their South Asia Consultant for six years. In fact, we did have what you might technically call a Malayali film, but Indian cinema is rapidly becoming so global, it would be challenging to label it as such. Take Anu Menon's Waiting, for instance, about two people whose spouses are in a coma, that is set almost entirely in Kochi, in the heart of Kerala. It has been directed by a Tamilian married to a Malayali, who is based in London; produced by Manish Mundra, who is based in Dubai; starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin who are based in Mumbai; and the film is in English and Hindi.

Naseerudin Shah and Kalki Koechlin in Anu Menon's film Waiting