The post-pandemic debate of the future of Bollywood and theatrical screenings continued in 2025, but things were becoming somewhat clearer. With the success of Hindi films like Saiyaara, Chhaava and the recent Dhurandher, the audience was once again willing to go to theaters, and themes of romance and patriotism were a big draw.
It was a good year for films from other regions of India, especially for Malayalam and Tamil cinema.
Some indie films did manage to find a limited theatrical run but the same films did better once they dropped on streaming platforms.
Meanwhile, good films, including Santosh and Punjab 95, struggled to get certified by the Censor Board.
Aseem Chhabra ranks the Best of 2025's films that released in theatres, or went directly to OTT platforms.
Most of the films on the list are currently streaming but it is unfortunate that the best film of the year -- scroll down to see which one it is -- has not had any luck with OTT platforms, even though it has won awards at international film festivals, and also had a limited theatrical run in India and the US.
10. Sister Midnight (Hindi)
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
In Sister Midnight, a deliciously funny and dark film, directed by UK-based artist and filmmaker Karan Kandhari, Radhika Apte plays Uma, a newly married bride who moves to Mumbai to live with her husband Gopal (Ashok Pathak) in a small room by the side of the road. The marriage is in trouble from the beginning.
Uma knows nothing about maintaining a home or cooking.
The husband is almost always drunk and afraid of initiating sex. As time passes, Uma reveals her dark desires which give the film a wildly crazy twist.
Sister Midnight has a funky soundtrack, including 1960s Cambodian soul music by singer Sinn Sisamouth.
Apte is a delight to watch in the film. She has never been this good.
9. Su From So (Kannada)
Where to watch: JioHotstar
In director/actor J P Thuminad's horror comedy, a young man Ashoka (Thuminad) has a crush on a woman in his village. In a drunken state, he peeps into the woman's bathroom window.
The next day, the villagers start to believe that Ashoka is possessed by the spirit of an old woman Sulochana from the nearby village called Someshwara (hence the title Su From So).
In the madness that pursues, Thuminad introduces us to a range of charming, at times wacky village characters. But in the most unexpected moment, the villagers invite a guru to exorcise Ashoka.
The guru is played with over-the-top gestures by one of the film's producers Raj B Shetty. In the past, Shetty had directed and acted in action films including the brilliant Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana, where he played an extremely violent character (J P Thuminad was also a part of the film's cast).
But in Su From So, Shetty is hilarious, pompous in his physicality, yet weak and timid.
8. Bison Kaalamaadan (Tamil)
Where to watch: Netflix
In Mari Selvaraj's fifth feature, a young man's world is flared up with angry mobs, caste issues and massive hurdles that seem hard to overcome. Yet, Selvaraj's protagonist Kittan (a terrific Dhruv Vikram) runs, and makes every possible effort to become a national kabaddi champion.
Partially based on the story of the Arjuna Award winning kabaddi player Manathi Ganesan, Bison Kaalamaadan is Selvaraj's most violent film.
But the real violence in the film is the struggle and challenge, often internal, that Kittan faces to achieve his goals.
Bison Kaalamaadan is an ambitious film that blends a sports drama about a young man, with large scale gang wars that envelope his world.
7. Avihitham (Malayalam)
Where to watch: JioHotstar
A group of voyeuristic men, behaving like a moral police force, set up a plan with military precision to catch a couple making out at night.
But in the rural Kerala setting, the men are simply interested in exposing the woman since they believe she is the only morally corrupt person in this scenario.
In Avihitham (An Illicit Affair), Director Senna Hegde exposes patriarchy, but with comic situations.
Still, Hegde's comedy isn't the laugh-out-loud variety.
Instead, Avihitham's rooted writing captures everyday moments where many men just assume they have a superior way of examining life.
6. Humans in the Loop (Hindi)
Where to watch: Netflix
An article journalist Karishma Mehrotra wrote for the online site fiftytwo.in inspired young filmmaker Aranya Sahay to make a film about Nehma (Sonal Madhushankar), a tribal single mother in rural Jharkhand who is hired as a data labeler for an international AI company.
Nehma's empowering journey emphasizes a little-known fact about women from rural India who work in the background in shaping the new technology. And they bring their own personal experiences to expand the dimensions of AI.
A silkworm is not a pest, Nehma says to her boss at one point in the film.
It is not a harmful insect.
It only eats dead leaves, so that the rest of the plant stays healthy.
She adds, 'AI is like a child. If you teach it anything wrong, it will only learn wrong things.'
5. Dhadak 2 (Hindi)
Where to watch: Netflix
Dhadak 2 is a solid debut film by filmmaker Shazia Iqbal (former production designer for Sacred Games and other shows and films) and a Hindi remake of Mari Selvaraj's Tamil masterpiece Pariyerum Perumal.
But Iqbal goes beyond Selvaraj's film placing Dhadak 2 within the context of mainstream Hindi cinema, with strong performances by two young Bollywood actors Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri.
An explosive film from Dharma Productions, Dhadak 2 goes deep into the caste divide in India in a mid-level city like Bhopal.
Unlike Selvaraj's female lead, who is quite meek and often clueless, Iqbal creates a strong woman character, giving her agency and the understanding of her surroundings.
Dhadak 2 is a powerful searing drama, a wake-up call to acknowledge the dark reality of life in India.
4. The Great Shamsuddin Family (Urdu/ Hindi)
Where to watch: JioHotstar
Fifteen years ago, Anusha Rizvi brought to us Peepli [Live], a tragicomedy story of a farmer whose plan to commit suicide creates a media circus.
After a long gap, Rizvi and her producer-husband Mahmood Farooqi are back with a delightful take on a large middle class Muslim family dealing with messy, but hilarious issues.
She populates her film with a wonderful ensemble cast of mostly women actors -- Farida Jalal, Dolly Ahluwalia, Sheeba Chaddha (the film's three dramatic sisters), and equally talented younger performers playing cousins, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Kritika Kamra, Juhi Babbar and Nishank Verma.
What makes the film stand out is that each character owns her/his Muslim space. There is no apology, no fear of who they are, other than regular gossipy residents of Delhi who happen to be Muslims.
3. Angammal (Tamil)
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Based on Perumal Murugan's short story Kodithuni, Director Vipin Radhakrishnan's film introduces us to a fascinating protagonist Angammal (a spirited Geetha Kailasam), a beedi-smoking, motorbike riding widow, who prefers not to wear a blouse.
Instead, she wraps a sari to cover herself. It is an issue of comfort, although Angammal has always been a non-conformist. But now she's concerned about changing times.
The challenge of the changing times comes in the form of her younger son, a doctor, who is planning to bring his city-bred fiancé and her parents to his village. The future in-laws will obviously meet the prospective groom's mother. So the son wants his mother to start to wear blouses.
There are no easy answers in Angammal. But in Radhakrishnan's world, life finds a balance, however uncomfortable it might be.
Angammal will stream on Amazon Prime from January 9, 2025.
2. Homebound (Hindi)
Where to watch: Netflix
An opinion piece in The New York Times written by journalist Basharat Peer, becomes the third act of Neeraj Ghaywan's heart-wrenching film that traces a friendship between two young men from UP -- a Muslim and a Dalit (played by Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa), the hardships and the discrimination they face as they seek jobs, and their eventual journey back home as India is locked down during the first phase of COVID.
Homebound is India's entry for the 2026 Best International Film Oscar and now shortlisted for the race.
It's an important story that needed to be told.
With Martin Scorsese on board as the executive producer, this is the second of the two films Karan Johar's Dharma Productions produced that examine the reality and the state of Dalits in India.
1. Sabar Bonda (Marathi)
Where to watch: Awaiting release
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) is the first Marathi film to play at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema, Dramatic section. It is also one of the few Indian films that explore same-sex relationships in rural India.
Rohan Kanawade's part autobiographical debut feature is a beautiful, gentle take on mourning and finding love in the most difficult time in a person's life.
Kanawade's protagonist, Mumbai-based Anand (Manoj Bhushaan) is stuck in his rural village, as the family marks his father's 10-day death ceremony.
Bogged down by traditions, Manoj finds comfort in his mother who understand her son's frustrations.
By chance Manoj reconnects with his teenage friend Balya (Suraaj Suman) and once again, love blossoms between the two young men.
This fall filmmakers Mira Nair and Payal Kapadia presented Sabor Bonda for its US theatrical release. In Kapadia's words, Sabar Bonda is a 'rare gift of a film that makes you want to reach out and hold the hand of the person you love.'
Sabar Bonda is still seeking an OTT release.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
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