IFFI 2025 closing ceremony: Rajinikanth receives honour, Vietnamese film ‘Skin of Youth’ wins The Golden Peacock

The 56^thInternational Film Festival of India ended connected a precocious enactment connected Friday (November 28, 2025) evening arsenic Rajinikanth was honoured with the beingness accomplishment grant for his 50 years successful cinema and Ash Mayfair’s Skin of Youth winning the apical prize, The Golden Peacock.

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

“I basal present with a batch of humility and gratitude and my heartfelt acknowledgment to the cardinal authorities for honouring my enactment of 50 years. If I look back, it seems similar it’s been 10 to 15 years that I’ve been moving and that’s due to the fact that I emotion cinema and acting. So, adjacent aft 100 years, I would similar to beryllium calved arsenic an actor, arsenic Rajinikanth. Thank you for emotion and affection,” the 74-year-old superstar said.

The histrion was accompanied by his household astatine the festival, which besides saw the beingness of Bollywood prima Ranveer Singh, actor-filmmaker Rishab Shetty, Sholay filmmaker Ramesh Sippy and Dhanush, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vineet Kumar Singh, Amit Sadh, and filmmakers similar Madhur Bhandarkar, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, and Shekhar Kapur.

The festival besides paid homage to the artists who passed distant this twelvemonth with an audio-visual tribute, titled, ‘In fond remembrance of the artists we lost’ wherever Dharmendra, Kamini Kaushal, Sulakshana Pandit, Satish Shah, Piyush Pandey, Zubeen Garg and Shyam Benegal were remembered.

The festival besides awarded winners successful the ceremonial with Vietnamese movie Skin of Youth, astir a troubled romance betwixt a transgender enactment idiosyncratic and a cage fighter, claiming the champion movie award.

Best manager grant went to Santosh Davakhar for his Marathi movie Gondhal, astir a Marathi bride who uses her lovers obsessive quality during a ritual to play a unsafe game.

Colombian histrion Ubeimar Rios won the champion histrion grant for his relation successful A Poet, a movie astir the lifelong obsession of antheral with poetry.

Jara Sofija Ostan won the champion histrion pistillate grant for her relation successful Little Trouble Girls, a Slovenian movie astir a 16-year-old introverted miss and her narration with a chap student. Special assemblage grant went to Nigerian communicative My Father’s Shadow and ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal was fixed to the movie Safe House.

Iranian film-maker Hesam Farahmand for his debut film My Daughter’s Hair (Raha) and Estonian film-maker Tõnis Pill for his debut feature Fränk, were declared arsenic associated winners of the champion debut movie of a manager award

The champion debut manager grant for an Indian diagnostic movie was fixed to Karan Singh Tyagi for the Akshay Kumar-starrer Kesari Chapter 2. Bandish Bandits Season 2 won the grant for champion web bid (OTT).

Union curate of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr L Murugan said helium is amazed to spot however IFFI is increasing each twelvemonth from spot to strength.

“The motive of the festival is to beforehand Indian cinema globally and for that IFFI is providing a level to young filmmakers... This twelvemonth Waves Bazaar did concern of Rs.1000 crore, past twelvemonth the magnitude was Rs. 400 crores. We gave opportunities for125 young minds. Our PM thinks of women empowerment, we’ve had films of 50 women directors screened astatine the festival,” Murugan said.

“We’ve the past of storytelling and we tin link it with technology, truthful we’ve Indian Institute of Creative Technology acceptable up by the government. People often categorise films arsenic North Indian oregon South Indian oregon East Indian cinema, but I would similar to accidental it is pan-Indian cinema,” the curate said.

The closing ceremonial featured performances from North Indian states wherein the publication of artists similar SD Burman, RD Burman, Zubeen Garg, and Papon was recognised. Artists besides performed Yakshagana, a accepted creation signifier from the authorities of Karnataka.

Govardhan Asrani, Pankah Dheer, Varinder Signh Ghuman, Bal Karve, Jaswinder Bhalla, Jyoti Chandekar, Ratan Thiyam, B Saroja Devi, Shefali Jariwala, Partho Ghosh, Vibhu Raghave, Shaji Karun, Manoj Kumar, Alok Chatterjeem, Shyam Benegal, and Zakir Hussian, were besides remembered astatine the festival.

The Goa CM presented mementos and shawl to V Shantaram’s son, Kiran Shataram, Sippy, and Siddiqui for their publication to cinema.

Ranveer Singh launched the song, ‘Tu Agar Meri’ from his much-anticipated film, Dhurandhar and said helium feels honoured to beryllium successful the beingness of the biggest superstar of each times, Rajinikanth.

“I privation I could amusement the trailer and teaser of Dhurandhar present but it’s a spot bloody, truthful we showed the emotion song, I anticipation you each ticker the film. Our director, Aditya Dhar, said his volition is to instrumentality the Indian movie to the world.

“China had its moment, with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Korea had its infinitesimal with Parasite, and we anticipation this volition beryllium counted arsenic 1 of the champion successful the genre. It is simply a analyzable communicative and ocular spectacle. We realised that station covid promises large ocular spectacle, intriguing tale,” Singh said.

The histrion besides lauded Rishab Shetty for his enactment successful Kantara 2.

“I saw the movie successful theatres, it is an outstanding performance. Anybody wants to spot maine successful Kantara 3? Tell this guy, archer him. I’m precise arrogant that you are taking Indian cinema forward. I can’t hold for your collaboration with Prasanth Varma, we are precise excited, can’t hold for it,” Singh added.

Shetty said helium thoroughly enjoyed the accepted Yakshagana enactment during the closing celebration

“My acting vocation started with Yakshagana. We cognize astir Mahabharata due to the fact that of Yakshagana arsenic it talks astir everything astir Indian mythology. They execute adjacent today, and they are the existent artists. I got the thought of making a rooted communicative similar Kantara from Yakshagana,” the histrion said.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju said IFFI has turned retired to beryllium a memorable movie festival.

“Waves Bazaar brought successful grounds concern this year, we’ve had an AI hackathon this time, it each goes with the imaginativeness of our PM. AI is simply a large distriptor and the amusement conception volition beryllium disrupted, determination volition beryllium affirmative and antagonistic (effect of it), but it is important to clasp immoderate exertion and defender the problems that travel with it,” Jaju said.