‘Saiyaara’, featuring newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, has emerged as IMDb’s most popular Indian film of 2025, while Aryan Khan’s directorial debut ‘The Ba*ds of Bollywood’ has secured the top spot among web series. IMDb announced the rankings on Wednesday, reflecting what global audiences engaged with the most throughout the year.

According to the PTI report, IMDb — one of the world’s most widely used platforms for information on films, television, and artistes — compiled its year-end list based on page views from over 250 million monthly visitors worldwide. The rankings serve as an indicator of global interest and real-time audience behaviour across languages and formats.

At the top of the IMDb Top 10 list is YRF’s ‘Saiyaara’, directed by Mohit Suri. The film has gained widespread attention for its emotional narrative and blockbuster music, earning praise across markets. Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films, described the recognition as a moment of “immense pride”, noting that the film struck a chord with audiences across geographies and demographics. He credited Suri’s vision and the debut performances of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda for the film’s widespread acclaim.

The list also includes the animated hit ‘Mahavatar Narsimha’ at No. 2, followed by Vicky Kaushal’s ‘Chhaava’ at No. 3. Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1’ and Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’ secured the fourth and fifth spots. This year’s selection showcases five Hindi films, two Tamil titles, and one each from Kannada and Malayalam cinema, with ‘Mahavatar Narsimha’ marking a milestone as the first animated film to enter IMDb’s year-end rankings.

The Tamil coming-of-age comedy ‘Dragon’ ranked sixth, while Aamir Khan’s ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ and Shahid Kapoor’s ‘Deva’ occupied the seventh and eighth places. Ajay Devgn’s Raid 2 and the Malayalam thriller ‘Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra’ completed the Top 10.

On the series front, Aryan Khan’s ‘The Ba*ds of Bollywood’ dominated the charts. Responding to the ranking, Aryan said the No. 1 position matched the team’s intention to “shake the room and own the conversation”, noting that the cultural chatter — from memes to debates — signalled the show’s impact. He added that the reception validated his instinct to tell stories “with no soft edges, no pretending”.

Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Black Warrant’ and Sudip Sharma’s ‘Paatal Lok Season 2’ followed in second and third positions, while the widely loved ‘Panchayat Season 4’ took the fourth spot. Psychological thrillers ‘Mandala Murders’ and ‘Khauf’ appeared at fifth and sixth, ahead of ‘Special Ops Season 2’, ‘Khakee: The Bengal Chapter’, and the latest seasons of ‘The Family Man’ and ‘Criminal Justice’.

Crime thrillers dominated the series list, accounting for seven of the 10 entries. Streaming platforms also played a major role, with four titles each from Netflix and Prime Video, and two from JioHotstar.

Yaminie Patodia, head of IMDb India, said the selections reflect a year of heightened creative experimentation across genres. She highlighted the range of storytelling — from romance to animation and satire to superhero narratives — as evidence of Indian content resonating strongly with global audiences.