Rajini thanks Centre for IFFI's jubilee honour

Rajini thanks Centre for IFFI's jubilee honour
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Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth on Saturday thanked the Central government for announcing that he will be honoured with the 50th International Film Festival of India's special Icon of Golden Jubilee Award.

"I thank the government of India for this prestigious honour bestowed upon me on the golden jubilee of the International film festival of India," the 68-year-old actor said on his twitter handle.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar announced earlier in the day that IFFI would honour the top star with the jubilee award.

Javadekar posted on his twitter,"in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema, during the past several decades, I am happy to announce that the award for the icon of golden jubilee of #IFFI2019 is being conferred on cine star Shri S Rajnikant.IFFIGoa50."

Rajinikanth also thanked his fans for their warm wishes.

"Many thanks to all my well-wishers, friends, colleagues from the film industry, political leaders and my dearest fans ...for the warm wishes & greetings for the honour conferred upon me by the government of India," he said on the microblogging site.

Senior Tamil Nadu BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan welcomed the award, saying it is an appropriate honour for Rajinikanth.

The recognition for the top actor will enthuse the aspiring younger generation trying to come up in life by betting on hard work alone, Radhakrishnan, a former union minister, said.

The festival will be held in Goa from November 20-28 with close to 250 films from various countries to be screened at the premier movie extravaganza.

Javadekar also announced celebrated French actor Isabelle Huppert as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

In its golden jubilee year, the festival would screen 50 films by 50 female filmmakers to acknowledge the contribution of women in cinema, Javadekar said.