IFFI 2025: Rajinikanth receives special honour for 50 years in cinema

The star-studded closing ceremony of the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on Friday ended on a high note with superstar Rajinikanth being honoured with the lifetime achievement award for his 50 years in cinema and Ash Mayfair's Skin of Youth claiming the top prize.

Rajinikanth receives honour at IFFI 2025 closing ceremony

Superstar Rajinikanth was honoured by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with a shawl and memento at the closing ceremony of IFFI.

“I stand here with a lot of humility and gratitude and my heartfelt thanks to the central government for honouring my work of 50 years. If I look back, it seems like it's been 10 to 15 years that I've been working and that's because I love cinema and acting. So, even after 100 years, I would like to be born as an actor, as Rajinikanth. Thank you for love and affection,” the 74-year-old superstar said.

The actor was accompanied by his family at the festival, which also saw the presence of Bollywood star Ranveer Singh, actor-filmmaker Rishabh Shetty, Sholay filmmaker Ramesh Sippy and Dhanush, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vineet Kumar Singh, Amit Sadh and filmmakers like Madhur Bhandarkar, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, and Shekhar Kapur.

The festival also paid homage to the artistes who passed away this year with an audio-visual tribute, titled, ‘In fond remembrance of the artistes we lost' where Dharmendra, Kamini Kaushal, Sulakshana Pandit, Satish Shah, Piyush Pandey, Zubeen Garg and Shyam Benegal were remembered.

The closing ceremony featured performances from North Indian states wherein the contribution of artistes like SD Burman, RD Burman, Zubeen Garg, and Papon was recognised. Artistes also performed Yakshagana, a traditional art form from the state of Karnataka.

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