Entertainment: Priyanka meets fans on ‘Quantico’ set

Actress Priyanka Chopra, who is currently shooting for Quantico, greeted some fans on the set of the third season of the American crime drama series.

Michael Seitzman, Showrunner of Quantico on ABC, shared a photograph of Priyanka with her three fans from the set.

In the image, the actress is sports a white hoodie paired with blue tattered jeans as she poses with three fans.

Describing the Indian actress as a ‘star’, Seitzman captioned the image: “I told Priyanka Chopra that three girls were outside set in tears that their hero was here. So she invited them in. That is a star. Quantico.”

In the third season, Priyanka will be seen reprising her role of FBI agent Alex Parrish.

Her social media fan following is rising rapidly as she strengthens her Hollywood presence.

She has reached a following of 20 million on Twitter and she has said she would treat her fans to a question and answer session.

Besides Quantico, the former beauty queen has already completed her next film Isn't It Romantic, featuring Adam Devine, Liam Hemsworth and Rebel Wilson. It is slated to release on February 14, 2019.

She will also star as a single mom in A Kid Like Jake alongside Jim Parsons, Claire Danes and Octavia Spencer.

Over 1,400 entries for 20th children's film fest

A record 1,402 entries, drawn from as many as 109 countries, have been received for the 20th International Children’s Film Festival (ICFFI) to be held here from November 8 to 14.

Film personalities from Bollywood, Hollywood and a wide spectrum of the cinema world are expected to take part in the festival being organised by the Children's Film Society, India (CFSI).

The festival -- the largest in the world and titled “Golden Elephant” -- will be hosted by the Telangana government jointly with CFSI and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

According to CFSI, the entries have been received in various categories including animation, documentary and short films.

ICCFI received 179 entries from over 30 countries in the Little Director’s section. Of these, 101 are from India.

“We believe that every child has a story to tell and with this in mind, CFSI few years ago started 'Little Directors' section in which films for children made by children themselves are screened in competitive and non-competitive categories,” said CFSI CEO Shravan Kumar.

The theme for this year's festival is ‘New India’ which is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of creating a New India by 2022.

A series of workshops and open forums on various aspects related to filmmaking and storytelling would be organised in which children as well as experts in the field would participate.

ICFFI is a biennial festival that strives to bring the most delightful, creative and imaginative national and international children's cinema to the young audiences in India, the society said.

The festival would also give children an opportunity to interact with other children, guests, jury members and film directors from different parts of the globe.

The festival aims to showcase films which cultivate an understanding of other cultures, lives and experiences and motivate the children to reflect upon the happenings in the world, Kumar added.

Kumar said since its inception in 1955, the CFSI has participated in more than 250 Indian and global film festivals, besides reaching out to children in conflict zones like Kashmir, tribal areas and remote areas of the northeastern states by organising film festivals there.

The CFSI also promotes leading filmmakers to join the cause of filmmaking for children by creating co-production platforms, including the recent film Pahuna made jointly with Bollywood and Hollywood actress Priyanka Chopra's production house.

Knew Weinstein was a womaniser: Damon

Actor Matt Damon says he knew Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, accused of sexual harassment by many actresses, was a womaniser, but was not aware that he was a predator.

“When people say like, ‘Everybody knew,’ Like, yeah, I knew he was an a**hole,” Damon told ABC News in a joint interview with actor George Clooney, reports variety.com.

“He was proud of that. That's how he carried himself. I knew he was a womaniser. I wouldn't want to be married to the guy. But this level of criminal sexual predation is not something that I ever thought was going on. Absolutely not,” Damon added.

Clooney said Weinstein talked to him about women he had affairs with though Clooney didn't believe him.

“I didn't really think that they were going to have affairs with Harvey, quite honestly. And clearly they didn't. But the idea that this predator, this assaulter, was out there silencing women like that, it's beyond infuriating,” Clooney said.

Damon worked with Weinstein on Good Will Hunting, the 1997 film that launched Damon’s career.

Damon said: “You had to spend about five minutes with him to know that he was a bully. He was intimidating. Miramax was the place, really the place, that was making great stuff in the 1990s. And it was like, ‘Could you survive Harvey?’”

Damon said Weinstein's “darkness” was done in private and he never saw it take place, reports variety.com.

“What makes something like this so horrific is that these are women and actresses who are pursuing their dreams. They're doing everything right. And suddenly they found themselves alone with a predator,” Damon said.