Throwing his weight behind the government’s decision to make Goa the permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India, Jackie Shroff said more celebrities were needed to make the event a success.

“Goa is a great venue for IFFI. This way the festival will be close to Mumbai, which is the hub of the Indian film industry,” Shroff told reporters in Panaji on Thursday.

“However, we should have more and more film stars coming in to ensure the festival becomes a success,” he said.

Shroff, in Panaji for a screening of Rituparno Ghosh’s Bengali film Antarmahal , said he had been overwhelmed by the audience reaction to his role in the film.

His portrayal of a whimsical zamindar in the film earned him a nomination in the ‘Best Actor’ category at the Locarno Film Festival earlier this year.

“It’s great that I am getting all sorts of roles to portray -whether positive or negative,” the 48-year-old actor said.

Shroff said he had a lot of new projects in the pipeline, including a role in Vidhu Vinod Chopra ’s Eklavya .