'Gangs of Wasseypur,' 'Saiyaara' lead in IMDb's rankings
What's the story
IMDb has released a list of the most popular Indian films of the last 25 years. The rankings were determined based on the all-time page views of the top five Indian films released each year from January 1, 2000, to August 31, 2025. The analysis included 130 movies, collectively referred to as the "dataset."
Sustained relevance
'Gangs of Wasseypur' topped list of 'sustained relevance'
IMDb revealed the Indian movie that had the highest "sustained relevance," meaning movies that remained popular on IMDb for five years post-release. This list featured only films released before 2020, with Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur taking the top spot. Other films that gained renewed attention years after their release include Virumandi (2004), Bangalore Days (2014), Masaan (2015), Premam (2015), Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), Ratsasan (2018), 3 Idiots (2009), and Tumbbad (2018), among others.
2025 winner
'Saiyaara' topped 2025's list; global appeal of Indian films
This year saw another shift with the newcomer-led Saiyaara topping the list of popular Indian films of 2025. It beat Chhaava, Dragon, Mahavatar Narsimha, and Coolie. The latter years of the 25-year period also witnessed an increase in Indian films performing well internationally. Rajkumar Hirani and Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots, and SS Rajamouli's RRR, and Baahubali franchise were particularly popular among international audiences.
SRK's dominance
SRK dominated yearly lists; 'Animal' beat his comeback hits
Shah Rukh Khan, who had a massive 2023, has been a favorite over the years. He has as many as seven movies topping yearly lists in the last 25 years. Interestingly, all of his 2023 comeback blockbusters were beaten by Ranbir Kapoor's Animal. Of the entire dataset of 130 movies, SRK had 20 titles to his name, followed by Aamir and Hrithik Roshan with 11 movies each.