Rajinikanth At IFFI 2025: '50 Years in Cinema Only Felt Like 10-15 Years!'

Superstar Rajinikanth was honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement award at the closing ceremony of the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, marking his 50 year journey in the film industry.

The 74-year-old attended the ceremony with his family members: wife Latha, his daughters, Aishwarya and Soundarya, and grandchildren.

At the event, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award to the Superstar. Union Minister of State L. Murugan and Bollywood star Ranveer Singh were also present on stage.

After receiving the award, Rajinikanth reflected on his journey, saying that his five decades in the film industry feels much shorter to him than it sounds.

“50 years of acting in cinema felt like 10 or 15 years. If there are 100 more janams (lives), I would like to be born again as an actor and as Rajinikanth. All this honour goes to the cinema industry and mainly to the Tamil people... the gods who keep me alive," said the Superstar to rapturous applause.

The 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) ran from November 20 to 28, and drew to a close after an eight-day celebration of world cinema, star-studded tributes and a slate that spanned over 240 films from 81 countries. This year’s edition unfolded across a series of major moments: a special tribute screening of Baashha (1995) to celebrate Rajinikanth, and a festival-closing honour for Dharmendra. The ceremony also opened with Telugu star Nandamuri Balakrishna's felicitation for completing 50 years in cinema.

Rajinikanth, who recently appeared in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s ensemble film Coolie (2025), is currently filming Jailer 2 with director Nelson Dilipkumar. He also has Thalaivar 173 in the pipeline, produced by Kamal Haasan. The film is earmarked to release on Pongal 2027 by Red Giant Movies. The makers are yet to announce a future course of action for the project after director Sundar C's departure.