Rajinikanth Delivers Emotional Speech At IFFI 2025: 50 Years In Cinema Felt Like 10-15 Years

• Rajinikanth was felicitated at the closing ceremony of the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

• He was honoured for completing 50 years in the film industry.

• The superstar delivered an emotional speech while receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Superstar Rajinikanth completed 50 years of his cinematic journey this year. To celebrate this milestone, the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) honoured him with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing ceremony of the star-studded event. IFFI Goa 2025 was an eight-day festival, which ran from November 20 to 28, 2025. It featured over 240 films from 81 countries.

The closing ceremony was held at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Panaji, Goa, where Chief Minister Pramod Sawant conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award to the 74-year-old legend. Union Minister of State L. Murugan and Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh were also present on the stage.

Rajinikanth's speech at IFFI Goa 2025

A video from the event has surfaced on social media where Rajinikanth expressed his gratitude with an emotional speech. "Fifty years of acting in cinema felt like 10 or 15 years. If there are 100 more janams (lives), I would like to be born as an actor and as Rajinikanth," he said.

He especially thanked the Tamil people, saying, "All this honour goes to the cinema industry and mainly to the Tamil people, the gods who keep me alive." The heartfelt speech was followed by a standing ovation by the audience.

Rajinikanth was accompanied by his wife Latha, his daughters, Aishwarya and Soundarya, and grandchildren to the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

IFFI 2025 also celebrated the birth centenaries of notable icons such as Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla, Ritwik Ghatak, P. Bhanumathi, Bhupen Hazarika, and Salil Chowdhury by screening restored versions of their classic works.