Former beauty queen and actress Neha Dhupia, who is geared up for the release of her first Punjabi film "Rangeelay", feels regional movies have got a wider audience across the globe. She wonders why she wasn't doing them earlier!

"I am excited for my first Punjabi film and I can really feel the buzz here as the city has got a huge audience. Punjabi films are really appreciated in Canada, so we are doing lot of promotions for my film here. I still remember when I was coming down, people were shouting my name," she told.

"The most important things about regional films is that such films are appreciated worldwide as Indians are all over the world. I am a sardar and after signing this Punjabi film, I am thinking why wasn't I doing such films till now," she added.

The 32-year-old has been active in Hindi films and features in movies like "Mithya", "Chup Chup Ke" and "Shootout At Lokhandwala".

Neha is here to attend the first edition of Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA). The three-day event kicked off Thursday.

Directed by Navaniat Singh, "Rangeelay" also features Jimmy Shergill and the film is slated to release May 16.

Neha says she never selects a script with an aim to reach out to some particular section.

"To be honest, I don't think about reach while selecting any film, I do it for my own experience," said Neha who is also doing Renzil D'Silva's "Ungli", which also features Sanjay Dutt, Emraan Hashmi and Randeep Hooda.