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Welcoming the idea of holding the international Film Festival of india here, film actress Priyanka Chopra today said the film industry will have a larger participation in the event due to Goa’s proximity to Mumbai.

“Since the festival is held in Goa, it is much easier for us in the Hindi film industry to take part in iFFi, to just come to Goa for a film or two and go back,” she said while reacting to criticism that Bollywood did not take much interest in festivals like iFFi.

“i cannot speak for other actors, but as for myself, i would love to participate in a festival like this beyond just performing on stage for the inaugural ceremony,” Chopra told reporters here.

“However, tight shooting schedules don’t allow me to do so. Otherwise, i would love to catch a film.”

Chopra and Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Bipasha Basu, Esha Deol and Riteish Deshmukh are participating in iFFi’s inaugural ceremony.

She was full of praise for the organsiers of iFFi, saying, “This festival will have everything from movies to fun activities and a good representation from all parts of the indian film industry, not just Bollywood.”

Festival Director Pyarelal defended the decision to issue over 5,000 delegate passes even though both screening venues for the event had a total seating capacity of 2,100.

“This year we have made sure that arrangements are streamlined and there should be no problem. Even in Cannes, the practice is to issue more delegate passes, but finally everyone is accommodated. We do not expect any problems,” he said.

The 10-day festival is being inaugurated this evening by veteran actor Shashi Kapoor.