New Delhi: Legendary actor Rajinikanth, celebrating 50 years in cinema, will be honoured at the closing ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, which will be held from November 20 to 28. The festival will showcase more than 240 films from 81 countries.

Among the films in competition for the prestigious Golden Peacock for Best International Film is the Malayalam entry Sarkeet, starring Asif Ali, child artist Orhan Hyder, and Divya Prabha, and directed by Thamar. Other notable selections include Mohanlal’s Thudarum, directed by Tharun Moorthy, which is part of the 25-film Indian Panorama section, and the Tamil film Amaran, directed by Rajkumar Periasamy, which will open the Panorama segment.

In the debut director category, ARM (Ajayante Randam Moshanam), directed by Jithin Lal and starring Tovino Thomas, has been chosen to compete.

Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro’s The Blue Trail will open the festival. IFFI 2025 will also feature a special focus on Japanese cinema, screenings of over fifty films by women directors, and an equal number by debut filmmakers.

Highlighting the festival’s evolving scope, Union Minister L. Murugan announced that awards will now recognise excellence in content on web and OTT platforms. Festival Director Shekhar Kapur also revealed that AI-based short films will be screened for the first time.