Actor Jackie Shroff is on cloud nine these days.

His forthcoming film "Antarmahal" directed by Rituparno Ghosh has been selected for the competitive section of the prestigious Locarno film festival in the best film and best actor categories.

Jackie is confident his performance in the film will not go unnoticed in the festival scheduled for Aug 10-13. Jackie plays an authoritative "zamindar" (landlord) in the film, who marries a second time to a woman half his age when his first wife fails to bear him a son.

"It is a power-packed role in a very sensitively made film," says the suave actor. "It is not always that one gets an opportunity to work with a director of the calibre of Rituparno Ghosh. It's always a privilege working with such directors. I am glad to have a very promising line-up of films with some of the best directors in the industry."

Among Jackie's forthcoming films are Vidhu Vinod Chopra's "Yagna", in which he plays an out and out negative role. "I am looking forward to working with Vinod Chopra once again after 'Mission Kashmir'. That was also the first time I essayed a negative role and I got a very positive feedback for it," he says.

Then there's Priyadarshan's "Kyonki", in which he plays the role of a doctor in a madhouse, Tanuja Chandra's "Runway" and Poonam Sinha's comedy "Mera Dil Lekar Dekho". He smiles: "After doing 180 films, I have this urge to do something different."