Rajinikanth was honoured with the coveted lifetime achievement award during the closing ceremony of the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa to celebrate his successful 50-year-long career in the Industry. The 74-year-old attended the event along with his wife and daughters Aishwarya and Soundarya.
At the ceremony, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant honoured Rajinikanth with a shawl and memento. Delivering a heartfelt speech, Rajinikanth dedicated the award and recognition to the cinema industry and the Tamil people.
"If I look back, it seems like I've just been acting for around for 10 to 15 years and that's because I love cinema and acting. Even if I were to have 100 janmam (births), I would like to be born as an actor, as Rajinikanth. Thank you for love and affection," he said, adding, "All this honour goes to Cinema Industry people and mainly Ennai Vaazhaveikum Dheivangalana Tamil Makkal (The Tamil people, the gods who keep me alive)."
The actor also received a standing ovation at the ceremony. Along with Rajinikanth, Dr. L Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, and actor Ranveer Singh were present on stage.
On the work front, Rajinikanth is working on his much-awaited Jailer 2, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. A sequel to the 2023 hit film Jailer, Jailer 2 will see Rajinikanth reprising his role of ‘Tiger’ Muthuvel Pandian, alongside Ramya Krishnan, who portrayed the role of his wife in the first film. Shivarajkumar, who made a cameo appearance in the first film, confirmed being a part of the sequel as well. The stellar ensemble is expected to get more star-studded in the sequel, with names like Nandamuri Balakrishna, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vidya Balan and Mithun Chakraborty speculated to be part of the cast.
Meanwhile, works are also ongoing for selecting the director for Thalaivar 173 after Sundar C's exit from the film. Kamal Haasan is backing this upcoming film through his Raaj Kamal Films International banner.