‘Saiyaara’ leads IMDb’s 2025 movies list, Aryan Khan’s ‘Ba***ds of Bollywood’ tops series rankings

“Saiyaara”, starring newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, has topped IMDb’s list as the most popular Indian film of 2025, while Aryan Khan’s directorial debut “The Ba**ds of Bollywood” led the rankings among web series, the platform announced on Wednesday.

IMDb, one of the most popular online resources for information related to films, television series and artists, released its list of most popular Indian movies and series.

The rankings are based on page views from IMDb’s more than 250 million monthly global visitors, making them a reflection of audience interest and worldwide engagement, the company said in a statement.

At the top of the IMDb Top 10 Most Popular Indian Movies of 2025 is Saiyaara, produced by YRF and directed by Mohit Suri. The film has become a global talking point for its emotional storytelling and chartbuster music.

Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films, said the recognition is a “moment of immense pride”.

“’Saiyaara’ has connected with audiences across India and the world, cutting across geography, age, and culture. We are hugely grateful that it has become one of the most iconic films for YRF and for the industry… Mohit Suri brought a clear vision and deep emotion to the film, while Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda delivered confident, heartfelt debut performances,” Widhani said.

Other films on the list include the animated blockbuster “Mahavatar Narsimha” (No. 2) , Vicky Kaushal’s “Chhaava” (No. 3), Rishab Shetty’s “Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1” (No. 4), and Rajinikanth’s “Coolie” (No. 5). The list features five Hindi titles, two Tamil films, and one each from Kannada and Malayalam cinema.

At the sixth spot was the Tamil coming-of-age comedy “Dragon”, followed by Aamir Khan’s “Sitaare Zameen Par” and Shahid Kapoor’s “Deva” in the seventh and eighth positions. Ajay Devgn’s “Raid” 2 and Malayalam title “Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra” rounded off the list.

“Mahavatar Narsimha” is also the first animated film to make it to IMDb’s year-end Indian rankings.

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Topping the series list was Aryan Khan’s “The Ba**ds of Bollywood”

“Seeing the show at No. 1 feels exactly like what we wanted to do – shake the room and own the conversation. The memes, the fan edits, the arguments, the obsession – that’s a show becoming part of culture, not just a weekend watch.” He added that the response affirms his instinct to tell stories “with no soft edges, no pretending,” Aryan, son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, said.

Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane’s “Black Warrant” and Sudip Sharma’s “Paatal Lok” season two followed in second and third place, while fan favourites “Panchayat” Season 4 took the fourth spot.

Psychological thrillers “Mandala Murders” and “Khauf” ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, ahead of “Special Ops Season 2” and “Khakee: The Bengal Chapter”, with the newest seasons of “The Family Man” and “Criminal Justice” rounding off the top 10.

The series list is dominated by crime thrillers, with seven of the ten titles belonging to the genre. It also features a strong presence from streaming platforms: four titles each from Netflix and Prime Video, and two from JioHotstar.

Yaminie Patodia, head of IMDb India, said this year’s selections highlight a period of exceptional creativity across languages and formats.

“The diverse range of storytelling, spanning from romance to animation, superhero epics to satire, reflects the industry’s vibrancy. It is especially exciting to see distinctly Indian stories and cultural narratives resonating with audiences around the world,” Patodia said.