NEW DELHI: In a rare gesture as the curtains came down on the 46th International Film Festival of India in Goa this evening, Oscar-winning music maestro, AR Rahman became the first-ever music director to be the chief guest at the closing of the annual festival.

Speaking at the function, Rahman said that cinema helped in understanding culture and commonality of consciousness of people across the world.

This year’s festival had another touch of music to it when internationally acclaimed music composer Illayaraja received the Centenary Film Personality Award during the Opening Ceremony on 20 November. Actor Anil Kapoor had been the Chief Guest at the inauguration.

The closing event also featured a music and dance performance by local artistes from Goa.

Goa Governor- Mridula Sinha, Goa Chief Minister- Laxmikant Parsekar, and Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were also present as the awards were given away at the end of a eleven-day festival.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Rathore said that while seeing a film can be an escape, it is also a source of inspiration since it remains with the viewers long after they have seen it and they carry it into their real lives by becoming part of the film. A film therefore has to espouse good values.

Rathore said IFFI provided a unique platform for confluence of ideas and stories from across the world and helped to learn from each other. This helped in better realisation of the commonality of the joys and sorrows that transcended all kinds of distinctions and boundaries.

Elaborating on the new media initiatives this year Col. Rathore said that the festival reached out to the larger audience through various initiatives like Live Streaming of Press Conferences, Festival Mobile App, Talkathons for disseminating the information and content of the festival. He said there was also a special section on National Film Heritage Mission at IFFI 2015 which showcased his Ministry’s efforts to restore and digitise films and archive film material. He said that out of a total of 1300 films, 375 films had already been digitised and preserved.