For most of you reading this, the “New Year, New Me” frenzy must have worn off by now. All those resolutions and goals crumbled as soon as you entered your grey cubicle, picking up all those pending decks you’d promised to “look into” in January. The harrowing Microsoft Teams notification sound underscores your day like a horror movie soundtrack, and with every “circle back,” you’re probably going deeper into a downward spiral. As refreshing as January is, so are the pending deadlines, deliverables, and expectations for what lies ahead in the great year of 2026, or as the internet is calling it, 2016. Nevertheless, in the spirit of rejecting chrononormativity, let the New Year be your sign to claim it. Amid Sisyphean tasks and Q1 madness, get your spark back, revisit those glimmers of joy, and for the love of God, touch some grass with these Side Quests, Rolling Stone India’s series spotlighting the most uniquely curated events around the country.

Rockstar Fanmeet

This is your best chance to ask Imtiaz Ali for financial compensation for that ending. The Rockstar fan meet, a celebration of one of the finest Indian musical dramas, promises to be a treat for cinephiles. Soak in the nostalgia as DOPs, editors, and Ali himself dissect critical moments, recall unheard BTS moments, and break down shots via panel discussions. Part of an ongoing series spotlighting the inner workings of popular Indian cinema, including Delhi Belly, this event also lets attendees take part in interactive trivia quizzes, photo booths, and a musical storytelling performance by Laksh Maheshwari.

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When: Jan. 16, 2026

Where: Tata Theatre, NCPA

Get tickets here

Burnout City India: Car & Bike Festival, Delhi

Sitting at the crossroads of music and automobiles, Burnout City is a confluence for both gearheads and melomaniacs. Witness the best of luxury and vintage showcases, test out drift arenas, groove to live music, mingle with your tribe in hangout arenas, and experience the best of Indian car culture.

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When: Jan. 17, 2026

Where: NSCI Exhibition Ground Gate 6, New Delhi

Get tickets here

Blood Moon Over Bengaluru

Nestled in the bylanes of Shivajinagar, “Blood Moon Over Bengaluru” is a hauntingly immersive offering. As an audience member, your adrenaline-inducing task is to connect the dots behind the curious case of Sughanda, whose body lies withering away, stricken by a strange curse. Melding gothic horror, queer resistance, and folk narratives with interactive theatre, the showcase is bound to unlock your inner mage. 

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When: Jan.16-18, 2026

Where: Sabha Blr

Get tickets here

The Gathering: Edition 02

Ever thought you could learn about food and Indian fabric history on one dinner table? Or get mesmerized by an art installation made of bamboo poles and hand-made noodles? Prepare to embark on a multi-sensorial universe curated by the country’s finest chefs at The Gathering, a multi-disciplinary conclave that brings the best of culture, community, and art through food. Five-course menus, unique pop-ups and workshops, contemporary art showcases, and more; you know the drill. The event will feature one-of-a-kind collaborations between artists like Pablo Bartholomew, Abraham and Thakore, Udit Mittal, Two Odd, and Ankon Mitra, and culinary renegades like Chef Nitya Rao, Doma Wang, Sachiko Seth, Bawmra Jap, Ralph Prazeres, Priyam Chatterjee, and Rishabh Seal, each presenting exclusively-designed menus that will never be repeated.

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When: Jan. 16-18, 2026

Where: Mukesh Mills, Mumbai

Get tickets here

E’Beh, Delhi NCR

Slovenian Puppeteer extraordinaire Matija Solce is set to bring E’Beh, a theatrical concoction of oddities, to India. Built from the ground up using everyday objects, the show, which is centered around the protagonist Pulcinella, integrates unique plot points with complex themes like death. A one-man show created, produced, and performed by Solce, E’Beh is equal parts playful and introspective.

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When: Jan. 18, 2026

Where: Oddbird Theatre, New Delhi

Get tickets here 

G5A Cinema House Presents: South Asia Now

Repping the indie vanguard, South Asia Now by G5A house strives to bring the breadth of South Asian diversity to the big screen. Curated by filmmaker and producer Anu Rangachar, the event spotlights contemporary cinema, ranging from documentaries to fiction features, emerging from across Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and India.

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When: Jan.23-25, 2026

Where: G5A Cinema House, Mumbai

Get tickets here

Kerala Literature Festival

Boasting a lineup of speakers like Sunita Williams, Shashi Tharoor, Satoshi Yagisawa, PA Ranjith, and more, the ninth edition of Kerala Literature Festival brings the global literary conversation to Kozhikode. Set along the Arabian shores of India’s first designated literature city, the festival will spotlight literature, art, and contemporary culture through a series of thought-provoking conversations, deep dives, and cross-disciplinary sessions, such as “The Future of Knowledge And the Democratization of Information” with Jimmy Wales, “Future India: Vision, Voices, and Leadership” with Indra Nooyi, and “Do our Epics Feel Cringe?” by Gourav Mohanty and Anuja Chandramouli.

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When: Jan. 22-26, 2026

Where: Kozhikode beach, Kerala

Get tickets here

Kochi Muziris Biennale

At the sixth edition of the coveted Kochi Biennale, one of the largest contemporary art festivals in Asia, expect to be enveloped by inspiration as you saunter across multiple venues and witness the works of 60+ artists from around the world. Titled “For the time being,” this year’s biennale, which is curated by multidisciplinary artist Nikhil Chopra, in partnership with the Goa-based HH art spaces, emphasizes friendship economies in artist-led ventures. 

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When: Up to March. 31, 2026

Where: Multiple venues across Kochi

Walk-in entry

Mumbai Pride March

Who says you have to wait till June to get the pride party started? Keeping up with the anti-chrononormative agenda, Mumbai Queer Pride’s annual Pride month celebrations begin in January itself. A jam-packed calendar of events, such as pop-ups, film festivals, and premier leagues, leads up to the highly anticipated annual city-wide Pride march. 

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When: Jan. 31, 2026

Where: August Kranti Maidan, Grant Road(W)

Find out more here

The post Side Quests: Most Offbeat Things to Do Across India This January appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

A global confluence that underscores the best of consumer electronics, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in January every year is known for launching inventions that feel like they belong in a Black Mirror episode. This year, nascent startups, tech heavyweights and legacy brands displayed a plethora of innovative gadgets, ranging from beauty, lifestyle, pet care, wellness, and more, many of which were attempting to bridge the gap between AI and humans.

From hyper-real humanoids to adorable cyberpets, Rolling Stone India spotlights some of the most interesting products from the lineup below.

You Can Now Suck on Your Favorite Song

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One of the most viral products to emerge from the showcase, Lollipop Stars, a product designed by multinational Indian brand Lava Tech, lets you listen to a song simply by biting, licking, or sucking on a lollipop. The secret is bone conduction technology, powered by a reusable electronic module that sends the vibrations straight to your inner ear. They’ve even rolled out artist-inspired flavors, including Ice Spice (peach), Akon (blueberry), and Armani White (lemon). As the industry leans deeper into multisensorial experiences, could this quite literally be the future of music consumption?

BRB, On A Pawference Call: Glocal PetPhone

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While PetPhone, an AI-powered, collar-mounted wearable often dubbed the “world’s first smartphone for pets,” was first introduced in 2025, it returned to the spotlight at CES 2026 with expanded capabilities as part of a broader ecosystem. Featuring high-precision motion sensors, the newer version builds on its early promise to give pet parents deeper insights into their pet’s activity and overall well-being. Most notably, PetPhone enables two-way communication, allowing owners to call their dogs and soothe them during moments of separation or stress. Paired with global connectivity and real-time location tracking, the device also logs movement patterns and social interactions, positioning itself as a holistic blend of communication, wellness, and community, all wrapped around your pet’s collar. Who knows, maybe one day your pet will be doomscrolling too.

The Rise of The Humanoid Robots

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While the convention was packed with cutting-edge tech, few things stole the spotlight quite like humanoid robots. From customizable physical companions to hyper-realistic, full-bodied AI-powered sex dolls, these robots showcased an uncanny ability to imitate the most complex human sentiments and movements. Aside from that, “Robosports,” which had already gained prominence through endeavors like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, was also explored in great detail by the Chinese robotics firm Unitree. Rivalling the likes of Real Steel, in a human referee-officiated match, two humanoid robots threw jabs and uppercuts at each other with calculated agility, often stumbling and recovering just like real athletes. Beyond the ring, exhibits also displayed robots at their domestic best, be it LG’s laundry folding robot or Dreame’s Cyber10 Robovac vacuum cleaner that can climb up the stairs. Humanoid co-workers next? Not a distant thought anymore.

Nail-Tech, Literally: Color-Changing Press-On Nails

Florida-based startup’s “iPolish” smart color-changing nails might just save you from those long hours at the salon. Thanks to electrophoretic nanopolymer technology (or e-ink), these press-ons can shift between over 400 color variations within seconds. Controlled through the brand’s in-house app and activation device, you can now get a fresh set of nails every week, or possibly, every hour.

Lego Smart Play

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Old-school nostalgia meets futuristic tech with Lego’s Smart Play system, which might just make it to the top of your Christmas wishlist. At the centre are Smart Bricks that look exactly like classic Lego pieces, but are packed with sensors that respond to movement, touch, light, and sound. These are paired with Smarttags, scannable elements built into sets and Minifigures, which carry unique identifiers. Together, they unlock different lights, sound effects, mini-games, and missions.  

Secret Lives of Cyberpets

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Cyberpets were a standout category at this year’s CES. Amalgamating emotional intelligence with intelligent interaction design, these robotic creatures emulate warmth, anticipate needs and offer companionship to their owners in unique ways. For instance, Sweekar, a pocket-sized, tamagochi-esque creature, is the world’s first AI-powered, physically growing pet. Likewise, the cutesy Ollobot grows with its respective family, adapting to behavioral mechanisms and personalities through its memory system, which even stores milestones or special achievements. 

Customized Slumber Soundtracks

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Almost like having a DJ for your dreams, MyWaves is a wearable, non-invasive device that converts the delta waves in your brain into personalized sound pattern designs. Aimed at improving sleep patterns, it uses a patented process to help extend and deepen REM cycles, reduce fatigue, and promote more restorative rest.

The post CyberPets, Musical Lollipops and AI Sex Dolls: Our Standout Tech Picks From CES 2026 appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

If you’ve secured your passes, blocked your calendars, and are about to dip your toes into the music festival season, then this list is especially for you. Yes, your life is surely going to change for the better, and yes, you’ll be re-watching that footage where you audibly sang louder than the artist onstage for the thousandth time. But, it’s equally crucial that you’ve got your basics in place. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a starry-eyed first timer, it’s time to get those checklists sorted as you gear up to see your dream concerts in real life. Rolling Stone India spotlights the most elemental additions that one should have handy for music festivals and concerts. 

Portable Power Bank

All those concert memories aren’t going to be made by themselves. Keeping one handy at music festivals and concerts should almost be a rite of passage at this point. . Between the bad signal and overarching urge to Instagram every damn thing, you don’t need to be panicking over a low-battery warning. Consider this your festival survival tool.

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Digicams and Disposable Cameras

If you’re a physical media aficionado with a penchant for photography, these are going to be your best friends. For many, concerts are that once-in-a-lifetime experience, where time seems to stand still in the most visually striking ways, and point-and-shoot cameras capture those moments with an innate nostalgic charm. While disposable cameras, which are powered by film, have a set limit on the number of photos, digital cameras have a video mode, along with other adjustment options, to experiment with.

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Portable Fans and Air Conditioners

Honestly, these are the underrated heroes of any weekend rager. When the sweat, dust, heat, and swamp vibes hit, whipping out a portable fan might just make you the coolest person in the crowd. You might also accidentally end up at the front of the concert just by cooling everyone on your way there.

Get the product here

Electrolyte Mixes & Liquid I.V

All those endless nights of dancing, partying, and crowd surfing require a dedicated drinks break, and preferably one that’s packed with electrolytes.  Instant energizers, they replenish and restore balance, keeping you ready to take on yet another fan pit. Pack smarter by taking a collapsible water bottle along.

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Earplugs

The ultimate festival cheat code, earplugs take the edge off the painfully loud speaker reverb while keeping all the magic intact, so you hear the music clearly and avoid waking up with a ringing soundtrack nobody asked for. Not only will you be able to hold conversations with other concert-goers, but they also double up as head-turning, metallic statement pieces that are bound to fetch you compliments.

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Totem Compass

Are concert stories even complete without the “I lost my friends” lore? While we’ve all done the aimless wandering routine when the cell network runs out , the Totem Compass is here to change that. An evolved, digitized version of doof sticks and totems found at raves and electronic music festivals, the tracker, fashioned as a compass, utilizes Global Navigation Satellite Systems to literally point you in the right direction, with the LED lights glowing brighter as you get closer those friends you lost.

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Headgear and Sunnies

Beating the heat is a microtrend of its own. Complete your fit checks with sleek visors or athleisure caps. If you want to take it up a notch, wrap a bandana or a pashmina shawl to nail the boho-chic aesthetic. Y2k enthusiasts, gain infinite aura points with your ski-hats, berets, and vintage baseball caps. For the ones who are still not over Beyoncé’s Renaissance era, rhinestoned or fringed cowboy hats are non-negotiable. Want to emulate Dune energy but also protect your face? Balcavas and ski masks are going to be your best friends. And what’s a festival look without your go-to pair of sunglasses? 

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Sole Finds

Shuttling between brand activations and the F&B counter, concerts and music festivals also function as an unofficial leg-day workout. As you almost hit the step count of your dreams, it’s also important to choose your footwear wisely. Activate your dad shoe mode on with a pair of trusty NewBalance 574 kicks, or opt for a more grungy, punk-rock look with the classic Dr. Martens boots. Want to channel your inner 2014 indie-sleaze era? You’ve got your Chuck Taylors and Vans for that. Aesthetics aside, you can always rely on gel insoles to reduce soreness, muscle strain, and foot fatigue.

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Portable Foldable chairs

All the fellow “uncs” are going to love this one. A lot of festival culture also involves the quality time spent with other attendees, usually at campsites or outside mainstages. Foldable chairs, with their ergonomic support, lightweight structure, and sleek design, come in handy here. Add this to your camping gear shopping list and you’ll be good to go.

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Hangover Pills

A certified non-negotiable, hangover pills are a game-changer for those nights where no one is counting their drinks at the bar counter anymore. Pack prudently, and don’t let your festival experience be overpowered by nasty aftermaths and memory blackouts.

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Festival hygiene 101

 Let’s be honest, nobody wants to be a stinker in the audience. Festival hygiene, although extremely pivotal, is casually overlooked. But quick fixes can go a long way in securing you remain fresh and ready to take on the next set. Build your kit with the basics, starting with deodorant wipes, a toilet seat spray, travel-sized microfiber towels, and hand sanitizers. A UV protectant sunscreen or spray, with SPF 50++, can also help you avoid those nasty sunburns.

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Bag-o-logy

While you may be emotionally attached to your beloved tote or clunky bags, nobody wants to be shoved aside by them as you drag them around during concert moments. It’s time to imbibe “the smaller, the better” mantra and put those crossbody bags and fanny packs to use. To further amp up the functionality factor, add carabiners to your belt hooks and bags to hang reusable cups and concert paraphernalia with ease.

Get the product here

The post The Ultimate Concert Essentials To Carry This Festival Season appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

Picture this, you’re back home from school, as the warmth of Summertime nostalgia wafts in the air. The soft static of the TV underscores the afternoon, while you browse through the channels, landing on the prime time slot, and your favorite musical drama film or TV show is on. As the character sets up their mic onstage for a soundcheck, thousands holler their name, and you chant along with them. The opening riff of the electric guitar not just fills the stadium onscreen, but also the confines of your room. You sing along to the barrage of bangers, syncing with the audience as they sway along to the tunes of the protagonist. 

Seems too familiar an experience? Well, that’s the beauty of Indian musical dramas. Be it wanting to get the same Quawwal jacket as Jordan from Rockstar, or write razor-sharp bars like Murad in Gully Boy, these films and TV shows have not only served as audio-visual fodder for music lovers across the country, but also inspired many to dig deeper into the world of independent music. Going beyond inspiration, these fictional personalities also oscillate on the spectrum of archetypes, from tortured artists and hip-hop underdogs to prodigal perfectionists, which closely mirror zodiacal personality traits. Wondering which fictional character would fit your astrological energy best? Read below to find out.

Capricorn: Aditya Shroff (Rock On!!)

 If you’ve nurtured the maniacal dream of being in a rock band with your best friends, you’ve Aditya Shroff to blame. A concoction of creativity and passion, Shroff is the charismatic, multi-talented lead vocalist of the band Magik. In typical Capricorn fashion, ambition functions as a double-edged sword in his life. On one hand, it’s his opiate; be it conquering stages, locking label agreements, or serenading audiences, there’s no plan B. On the other hand, pragmatism, coupled with his workaholic nature, blinds him from prioritizing things and people that truly matter. Vulnerability is a foreign, nightmarish concept, one that he struggles to embrace until the very end. Surviving the artist to finance bro pipeline, his soullessness is mistaken for callousness. However, beneath that icy exterior lies a heart that relentlessly yearns for reconciliation and basks in the nostalgia of his glory days.

Aquarius: Priyanka Sethi (Dhoom Machao Dhoom)

A sonic idealist, rules and stereotypes for Priyanka Sethi are like water off a duck’s back. The leader of the fictional “Pink Band,” Sethi is an eccentric Aquarian, comfortably reveling in her imaginative bubble of ideas and melodies as she shapes her next song. 

Pisces: Rahul Jaykar (Aashiqui 2)

The signature electric riff from “Sun Raha Hai Na Tu” instantly reminds you of Rahul Jaykar from Aashiqui 2, the personification of the wounded artist archetype. A supremely talented musician afflicted by the evils of fame, Jaykar is like an empty vessel, in search of a boundless reserve to give him meaning. Charming yet sincere, he covers up his fallacies with an outpouring of unconditional love. High-strung and elusive, Jaykar embodies the Piscean quintessence of hopeless romance, one that catalyzes his self-expressive, artistic nature. Marching to the tunes of his own ebbs and flows, he harnesses his intuition to identify potential and lend a hand to those in need. 

Aries: Krish Kapoor (Saiyaara)

Unfiltered and impassioned, Krish Kapoor is the poster child of fire signs. Tenacious and competitive, he’s relentless in his pursuit of shaping his own trajectory. Rarely one to sugarcoat, Kapoor is criminally aware of his self-worth. This fiery intensity also extends emotionally in the form of warmth and ingenuity that soothes his loved ones. A serial rule-breaker, he is often an authoritarian nightmare. Yet his raw temperament either manages to captivate or intimidate those around him. 

Taurus: Joseph Mascarenhas (Rock On!!)

A man of few words who lets the guitar do the talking, Joe is a reliable and grounded peson, displaying unfailing loyalty towards his loved ones. A classic Taurus, he thrives in predictive situations, marinating in the comfort of routines far more than normal. His stubbornness and incessant need to go all-in or all-out cost him at times, compelling him to put his authenticity on the back burner. Yet it is that very bullishness that eventually leads him back to music, his one true calling.

Gemini: Ishaan (Ishaan: Sapno Ko Awaaz De)

A quirky high school student with a hidden musical talent, Ishaan shuttles between fulfilling his class clown duties and being the lead vocalist of his band. A self-proclaimed butterfly, he uses humor as a crutch to deflect difficult situations. Leading a double life, both as a musician and student, he juggles a myriad of dilemmatic situations, right from exploring intercollegiate band culture and record deals to balancing friendships, all while being tested at every step of his journey. But he wades through courageously, thanks to his adaptable nature. His added comedic timing and melodic musings help him win over the most sour-faced individuals. 

Cancer: Qala Manjushree (Qala)

Cancerian sensitivity remains embedded in Qala’s artistry. Her voice is her arsenal, but also her Achilles heel. To the world, she’s the golden songbird, but behind closed doors lies an emotionally turbulent yet intelligent individual who yearns for approval. Is it her own or the world’s? The lines forever remain blurred. Nevertheless, she’s a successful, self-made woman who uses her agency to bolster other female artists, while also rightfully demanding what is hers. Honing her craft with dedication and consistency, Qala is the tragic equivalent of the water sign prototype.

Leo: Rosie Noronha (Bombay Velvet)

Born to perform, Rosie possesses an intrinsic theatrical flair, with gritty Leo ambition acting as her primary fuel. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and when the show lights turn on, it’s going to be the performance of a lifetime. A grandiose personality emboldened by warmth, she remains in charge of her own destiny, driven by an insatiable appetite for wanting more from life.

Virgo: Radhe (Bandish Bandits)

A zodiacal perfectionist, Radhe is an analytical, detail-oriented, and thoroughbred disciplinarian who will push himself to musical extremes. With an undying love for his craft, which is sometimes powered by intense self-criticism, his quest to seek purpose and fulfillment even after being a classical music prodigy never stops.

Libra: Insia (Secret Superstar)

Using her voice not just for expression, but also for familial harmony, Insia strives to create balance between her extreme, dwindling parallels. While wanting to free her family from the clutches of her abusive father, she also strives towards setting up her dream career as a singer. An inherent diplomat guided by empathy, she relies on herself as a moral compass to chart a unique course shaped by her ambitions.

Scorpio: Jordan (Rockstar)

Whether he’s the nonchalant Jordan or the gullible Janardhan, a sense of secrecy creates a fog over his true identity. There’s something poetic about Jordan’s rage; it comes in layers, masked as anarchy, but in reality, there’s a visceral purity to his pain. Defiant and outlandish, he’s willing to bite back with equal ruthlessness against society’s cruel intentions, using his words and tunes to express the unsaid. However, like the typical Scorpio, when it comes to love, he’s unabashed and unapologetic. It becomes his all-encompassing sanctuary, a utopian middle ground where everything plays out like a fairytale. Willing to go to extreme lengths to protect his prized possessions, Jordan lives in an eternal tussle between self-sabotage and acceptance, chasing any modicum of normalcy with added intensity. 

Sagittarius: Murad (Gully Boy)

A dynamite explosion of talent powered by fiery grit, Murad lets temperament guide his quill in a constant “me against the world” rhythm. A true explorer at heart, the gully underdog is driven by Sagittarian impulsivity and the unflinching bravery to face the unknown. Turning every thought, wound, and wonder into cutting bars, Murad looks his setbacks in the eye, welcoming them for another battle round.

The post Which Indian Music Protagonist Are You, According to Your Zodiac Sign? appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

From mixtapes by seasoned artists like rap maverick KR$NA that shut the haters up to gentle and meditative reminders to oneself by singer-songwriters like Tanmaya Bhatnagar, Anika, Ditty and Taba Chake, 2025 gave us stellar EPs and albums by seasoned and new artists alike. 

It’s clear in hearing these records that these artists have not only held the narrative value of an album in high regard, but also subverted formats and expectations when it came to narrative and sound.  Here are the best albums and EPs of 2025, in no order or ranking.

Hanumankind – Monsoon Season 

Even before “Big Dawgs” took rapper Hanumankind global, the Kerala-origin, Bengaluru-based artist was plotting a full-length album. When each of your recent singles is a smash, from “Genghis” to “Go To Sleep” to “Big Dawgs,” a mixtape may not be the best way to hold an audience’s attention in the streaming age. HMK didn’t care for that, and rightfully so, because each of these 12 songs was a gem encrusted into a crown. From star team-ups like Denzel Curry, A$AP Rocky and Maxo Kream to singers like Roisee and Rudy, Monsoon Season is a reintroduction to new fans and a deeper look for the day ones, sonically designed for adrenaline, introspection and grit by the rapper’s go-to producers Kalmi and Parimal Shais. 

Karan Aujla – P-Pop Culture 

Name a better team than Karan Aujla and Ikky in Punjabi music. The Canadian-Punjabi’s next move after songs like “Wavy,” “Tauba Tauba,” and “Softly” was highly anticipated, and acknowledging his place in the Punjabi movement, Aujla made P-Pop Culture. It cemented Punjabi pop as both a genre and culture that’s here to stay. Doused in good vibes and gangster energy alike, songs like “I Really Do…” and “For A Reason” get you into the groove instantly, as though Ikky and Aujla are throwing a dare-you-to-stand-still challenge that they’ll win every time. Ikky’s modern composing and production spans bright guitars, lofty hip-hop beats (“I’ma Do My Thiiing”), and grandiose, distorted synth (“Daytona”). There’s a little bit of all of that on “MF Gabhru!” — a song that shapes the new direction of Punjabi music.  

Sijya – Leather & Brass EP 

New Delhi producer, composer, and vocalist Sijya has had quite the journey, going from a fledgling electronic artist who also designed her own cover art to signing with One Little Independent Records (home to the likes of Björk) with her new EP, Leather & Brass. Her visual/graphic designer mind is clearly entwined with her artistry across six, mostly downtempo tracks. Degradation and decay are key sonic touchstones for Sijya, allowing her to wander on songs like “I Only Want To Crash.” Synth lines rear their head and crash out over Sijya’s abstract lyrics (“Rust,” “Why Do You Fight Me”), and the most accessible, rhythm-driven song is “Do I Know,” in which she asks, “Will it ever be enough? I don’t know.” It’s the kind of EP that can speak to anyone in existentialist dread, of which we can always use more. 

Anika – Five Foot Three 

In a year where Indian independent music searched for its distinct voice, Goa-based Anika’s Five Foot Three arrived with clarity and conviction. This seven-track debut, produced by Mumbai’s pop ace Tejas, establishes a vocabulary for vulnerability that feels refreshingly unpretentious. The title track excavates small victories that accumulate into selfhood, while “Tic Tac Toe” wraps sharp pop instincts in inviting warmth. There’s punchy rock with “Dancing With A Piscses,” while “Sex Is Overrated” and “19” are humorous and heartbreaking, often simultaneously. The former dismantles romantic mythology with wit; the latter champions friendship over materialism.

Tanmaya Bhatnagar – Phoolon Sa Dil EP 

Five years since her debut song “Kya Tum Naraaz Ho?,” singer-songwriter Tanmaya Bhatnagar has traversed continents, motherhood, and sonic experimentation. It all led to her Hindi EP, Phoolon Sa Dil, which distills tenderness into something vital — the joys, trials, and power of love. Produced by Dhruv Bhola and Amar Pandey, the title track’s swaying, atmospheric pop establishes the EP’s emotional core. “Kinaare” carries the hummable warmth of her brightest work, while “Noor” splits the difference between lullaby and devotion for her daughter. “Supriya,” a dedication to her mother, radiates unguarded love. “Zindagi” with its lo-fi textures and sampled vocals captures something cinematic, like a contented, sunny day smile. Bhatnagar reminds us to bask in the glow of this love, which she reminds us is essential

Sanjay Divecha – Leela

After decades shaping India’s guitar vocabulary, Sanjay Divecha turned inward for Leela, a nine-track acoustic meditation that’s been years in the making. It opens up a sonic portal like few other guitarist-composers in India can do. “When Mountains Meet The Sky” distills classical guitar to its essence, while “Afrika” carries melodies learned directly from Cameroonian master Andre Manga. The album’s tributaries run deep, from “Song for John Ji” honoring jazz-fusion titan John McLaughlin with Apoorv Petkar’s vocals, to the Bossa Nova-nodding “For Tom” featuring Vasundhara Vee’s wordless grace. There’s a spiritual intensity on “Path To You” and “Anandi,” featuring Anand Bhagat and Ananya Sharma, that you don’t often hear. If you consider the stirring title track that is spread across the album in two parts, Leela proves that in the right hands, an acoustic guitar contains multitudes. 

KR$NA – Yours Truly

When New Delhi rap star KR$NA calls Yours Truly a mixtape, he’s kind of underplaying the true power of the format. This 15-track statement is more of a masterclass in sustained excellence. Collaborating with producers Phenom and Karan Kanchan, plus heavyweights Raftaar, Badshah, Seedhe Maut, Yashraj, Awich, and Aitch, KR$NA demonstrates range without pandering. “Nothing To Prove” addresses release patterns with disarming honesty, while “Sensitive” with Seedhe Maut playfully takes apart performative activism. The Japanese-Hindi conversational flow on “Hello” and the boom-bap buoyancy of “Talk My Shit/Guarantee” are potential hall of fame-level cuts in terms of pen game. Yours Truly is KR$NA at his funniest, most vulnerable, and indefatigable, often simultaneously. 

Alva Kuuto – Alva Kuuto 

For years, Praveen Alva commanded South Indian stages with Tulu storytelling that needed no translation. With Alva Kuuto, the Mangaluru-origin band’s self-titled debut, that visceral energy finds its fullest expression across eight tracks that leap across any language barriers. Producer Varun Murali, drawing from his folk-rock pedigree with Swarathma, helps the band shape a sonic arc that swings from the playful “Ashana” to the wistful “Ee,” from the funky strut of “Gongey” to pumped-up fury on “Pukkele.” Alva’s throaty shouts and soaring guitar solos, particularly on “Pageyta Pugey,” channel Rage Against The Machine’s intensity without mimicry. This is a rare Tulu-language rock album that proves regional language albums can communicate universally through sheer sonic force. 

Agam – Arrival of the Ethereal

After eight years of meticulous crafting, Agam‘s Arrival of the Ethereal sees the Bengaluru sextet push their boundaries to exhilarating new heights, from the ferocious “Between Doubt and Destiny” featuring folk-metallers The Down Troddence’s Munz to the wedding anthem “Walk of the Bride,”  which has thousands singing along at every show. Ambitious collaborations with Grammy winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on “Flight To The Summer Sky” and an 80-piece Czech orchestra elevate their already grandiose sound. Nearly 20 years into their journey, Agam proves their music — rooted in rich, underrated as well as popular traditional compositions and soaring through prog arrangements — is always going to enthrall across generations.

Hanita Bhambri – Shoharat

New Delhi-bred, Mumbai-based singer-songwriter Hanita Bhambri sheds her mournful singer-songwriter skin with ferocious intent on Shoharat, a gothic pop-rap manifesto born from rage, grief, and unfiltered honesty. Archiving her past work and emerging in full hater mode, Bhambri crafts darkly textured bangers like “Zillat,” “Kadva,” “Bhool Bhulaiya,” and “Bhediya,” which was written in 15 minutes after sobbing on a bathroom floor. Songs like the eerie “Daayan” sum up the middle finger she’s raised to toxic exes, fake friends, and an exploitative industry. There’s a necessary catharsis and reclaimed space in her sound and goth visual aesthetic that match the album’s potent fury. After years of being underestimated and silenced, Bhambri’s debut reclaims power through pure artistic defiance.

Meewakching – Bildungsroman

At Manipuri indie act Meewakching’s Bengaluru gig to promote their new album Bildungsroman in August, English as well as Manipuri songs were sung at full volume by the crowd, which really made you think about how this may not have happened for a Northeast indie act six years ago. Emerging from the chaos and uncertainty of conflict in their home state, Bildungsroman is, as the name suggests, a coming-of-age story amid it all. There are bittersweet, dreamy love songs like “Supermarket (Everytime)” and “Make Me Glad, Don’t Make Me Sad,” and more gutsy songs like “Anarcho Love Song.” The hyperlocal “Crabwalking In Imphal” is transportive and sees them try a bit of rap, and there’s a punch hidden in the sweeping shoegaze of “I Can’t Trust”: “I can’t trust the government/They, they let our people die young.” Conscious and carefree at different times, Bildungsroman takes us straight into the minds of Manipur’s young, who are perhaps saying they’re not so different from the rest of the world. 

Kavya – Hyperreal EP 

New Delhi-origin artist Kavya broke out beyond her pop, R&B, and singer-songwriter expectations on her second EP Hyperreal, which came four years after her debut EP Know Me Better. In some ways, Hyperreal – co-produced with New Delhi’s Goya aka Abhishek Sekhri – is another way to know Kavya even better, as a shapeshifting creative powerhouse. Sure, it has the experimental sonic palette that recalls the likes of Björk, but when you hear the gigantic bass and swiveling beats go over wistful, echoing vocals on “Felt,” it can best be described as sounding like Kavya. The futuristic pop of “Submission” is overwhelming, and there’s more mystique she offers on “Stolen Games,” which is maximalist without being over the top. Hyperreal is yet another reinvention from Kavya, and we’re here for it. 

OAFF – Between Flowers

Composer-producer OAFF, aka Kabeer Kathpalia, used the attention he got from film and mainstream pop projects to show the world his most personal narrative and experimental soundscapes yet on Between Flowers. Just shy of the 20-minute mark, you could debate whether it’s an album or an EP, but then, the artist also added a visual film to go with it, marking just how ambitious his solo dreams were. In the span of a year, he grieved the loss of his grandparents but also got married. Finding that life exists amid this spectrum, OAFF enlisted a stellar cast of voices. Sid Sriram elevates “Falling” as a perfect fusion between two shapeshifting artists. Amira Gill and lyricist Manreet Khara light up the shimmering Punjabi title track, while Vidhya Gopal injects soul into the slowly unfolding “Rooth Gaye” and Pratika Gopinath brings her distinctive vocal style to “Forever.” Divyam Sodhi starts Between Flowers off strong, with glitchy, upbeat electro-fusion on “Baalmaa.” 

Ditty – Kali 

Berlin-based, New Delhi-bred singer-songwriter Ditty channels folk tradition’s cynicism and satire into Kali, her politically charged second album that refuses to look away from the world’s ugliest truths. From confronting colorism and structural racism on the title track to questioning consumerism’s environmental toll on “Money,” Ditty weaves intimate confession with urgent activism. “Dunya (For Our Children)” stands as the album’s moral core, addressing genocide in Palestine while drawing parallels to humanity’s war on nature with unflinching clarity. Produced with Bowls and pressed on recycled vinyl, Kali balances bleakness with Ditty’s hope that humanity might yet change its ways. It’s conscious folk music for an unconscious age, delivered with grace and fire.

Shikriwal – Natya Alaapika

Shikriwal is building a world of his own. And it’s not like he started yesterday. His album Natya Alaapika is a polished, resolute, and powerful release that comes on the back of years of showing people what Bhojpuri music can also sound like. Across 18 tracks and the span of an hour, Shikriwal proves why he can be Indian hip-hop’s next favorite rapper. Rapping like he’s often speaking directly to the listener about relationships and family, there’s different sonic approaches that make Natya Alaapika shine. Take the campfire jam vibes of “Kuiya Koop,” the resplendently confident “Kaaya” and “Kajri Geet,” and the chaos of tracks like “Vyapar” and “Tanashahi.” There’s a powerful directness to “Mahabharat,” with all the tracks building off a bed of woodwinds, horn and unpredictable production choices. He even squeezes in a Birthday song, “Janamdin,” that can just take you to the room (or road procession) where Shikriwal is throwing a genre-bending hip-hop party that draws from Bhojpuri music’s daring experimentation and adds a new chapter. 

Shauharty – Farookh 

As we noted earlier this year, New Delhi artist Shauharty’s Farookh is proof that alternative hip-hop can thrive outside India’s commercial rap lanes. Named after Egypt’s King Farouk and split into sides examining ego versus acceptance, this 14-track mixtape journeys from braggadocious narcissism to vulnerable queer identity with unflinching honesty. The psychedelic “Earth, Wind & Fire” confronts trauma and abuse over hazy beats, while “Stancyk!” enlists Kashmiri rapper Ahmer for a trippy fever dream. Blending jazz, funk, indie songwriting, and multilingual flows across Hindi, Marathi and English, Shauharty constructs an immersive world inspired by the likes of Kanye and Tyler, The Creator. Farookh represents self-acceptance as a radical artistic statement.

Dhanji, Rasla – Drive-in Cinema 2.1 

Mining ideas that have been kicking about for about eight to ten years, Ahmedabad maverick Dhanji and producer Rasla’s Drive-In Cinema 2.1 is a beautifully chaotic testament to desi hip-hop’s outsider spirit. This 18-track mixtape stitches together verses, beats and ideas from different eras of Dhanji’s journey into something defiantly unpolished. From the freestyle energy of “Hashishbhai” (a live staple that’s a moshpit-starter) to the pure chaos of closer “Bhool Mat Jana,” where overlapping vocals and roughness remain intentionally intact, this album is arguably a watershed moment when it comes to defining how well hip-hop as an adopted culture is constantly evolving across India’s subcultures.

Bloodywood – Nu Delhi

Bloodywood’s love letter to home on Nu Delhi, their second album, was exemplary of how a global breakout act from India can continue to surge forward. The folk-metallers take aim at haters with gnarly beatdowns on “Hutt,” raise slogans and fists on “Halla Bol,” and profess that Delhi has made them who they are. Uplifting, emotional rap-metal has always been Bloodywood’s forte, and songs like “Kismat,” “Bekhauf” (featuring none other than kawaii metal act Babymetal singing in Japanese and Hindi), and “Dhadak” are both familiar and hard-hitting in a way they haven’t done before. When you have more listeners around the world than in India, it can always be tricky to put forward multicultural, multi-faceted stories honestly. But if you can have fun with food puns and also invoke a mother’s love like they do on “Tadka,” you know exactly why Bloodywood are making fans everywhere they go. As Raoul Kerr raps, “We gonna win it even though we didn’t plan this.” 

Taba Chake – Khud Ko Miloon

Arunachal Pradesh singer-songwriter Taba Chake’s second album, Khud Ko Miloon, came about six years after his breakout debut Bombay Dreams. While that was about trying to make a new home while staying rooted, Khud Ko Miloon clearly comes from more time back home in Arunachal, and trying to find himself. Across 10 tracks (and adding three ‘raw’ versions for a full 13), Taba effortlessly pulls off the chill, introspective guy (the instantly hummable title track and the cheery “Kya Ho Agar”) but also offers refreshing indie rock turns on “Jee Le” and “Suno Dil Ki.” There aren’t songs in native Arunachali Nyishi or other dialects like previous projects, but Taba does return to his fingerstyle guitar roots on serene cuts like “Whispers In English” and the interlude. At a time when Indian indie has a lot of heartbreak stories, Khud Ko Miloon offers encouraging words like a friend who sits by you in your toughest moments. 

AFKAP – Parat 3 EP 

It was quite unorthodox for hip-hop artist AFKAP to release the third part of his soul-baring Parat record right after Parat 1 from 2023, but he did thankfully close the loop soon enough and release Parat 2 later in the year. The entire three-part project marks a shift in the outlook AFKAP has for life, and Parat 3 is where the artist gets fully real about how work has had him in a chokehold, and he finally breaks free from it in one of those cathartic rap songs of the year, “Resignation Later.” Beyond confessional themes, AFKAP remains a masterful artist who’s never tied down by a single style of hip-hop. From the pulsing fusion of “Mehek” featuring vocals by Kamla Devi to sampling a dialogue from the film Anatomy of a Fall to raging with Raga and Zero Chill on “Hurt” and reaching for that stadium-ready banger on “Dhyaan” with Stunnah Beatz, Parat 3 is a turning point and a focal point all at once. 

Farhan Khan – Alif Laila 

The year belongs to artists like Farhan Khan, who still believe in the narrative and thematic power of a concept album, in hip-hop in 2025, no less. Like AFKAP, the story didn’t exactly roll out in order (Part 2 came out in 2024), but that’s another subversion of convention by Khan, who mostly moved away from being a hardcore rapper and became more of a world-wise, heartsick poet with Alif Laila. With producers like Mr. Doss, Vedang, and Deetocx, Khan takes listeners back to first love, in its innocence as well as its intrigue. “Masoom” pairs qawwali and hip-hop like few others would’ve expected, and there’s a cinematic air to songs like “Raaz” and “Lifafa” without losing their hip-hop foundation. Part 1 of the album signs off with guitar noodling, sitar power from Mehtab Ali Niazi and Khan’s impassioned pleas to an already-departed lover. Khan made Alif Laila like he was acting, directing, writing and composing music for a film of his own, and it shows — the album is storytelling at its finest this year.

Sutej Singh – Restless | Relentless 

About seven years after his breakout album The Emerging, Solan, Himachal Pradesh’s guitarist-composer Sutej Singh proved once again he has a flair for epic-level prog on Restless | Relentless. At a time when guitar music is still a niche in India, Singh has certainly on the cusp of a global following, but he still deserves his flowers for championing the movement back home with surging experiments like “Kaadambari” (his first song to feature vocals, by artist Nandini Srikar). In swearing by mystique-building intros before riffs (“Bring To Light”), Pink Floyd-esque grandiosity (“Restless | Relentless”), and enchanting orchestral arrangements (“Mayflower”), Singh takes us on a journey like few other Indian guitarists. Yes, we have plenty of revered axemen in the country, but Singh represents a new generation who can pack story, soul, and wizardry all in one. 

Parvaaz – Na Gul Na Gulistan 

One of the last additions to the list this year, but certainly not the least, is Bengaluru-based band Parvaaz’s Na Gul Na Gulistan. Almost entirely hopeless about the future, Khalid Ahamed, Fidel D’Souza, Sachin Banandur, and Bharath Kashyap still persevere to find the light across eight punchy, shapeshifting tracks. Kashyap’s first album with the band leads to him bringing soul-drenched, sonorous guitar work right off the bat on the echoey “Talafi,” while “Dogma” has a nod to U2. They go from strength to strength on tenuous prog songs like “Zor-o-Zar” and soar like few others on “Khwab Gah,” and the standouts remain “Kauai’ōʻō” (featuring an unforgettable, flittering oud and a poignant sample of the last ever recording of a bird call) and the ominous, Radiohead-esque trip that’s the closing title track. Parvaaz have taken a look at the world around them and found little to celebrate, and that’s the most important thing that a rock band can do in 2025. 

Kayan – Is Love Enough? EP

Mumbai singer-songwriter and DJ-producer Kayan maps modern dating’s hope and exhaustion across five intimate tracks that refuse to offer easy answers. Opening with the breathy tension of “Denim Jeans” and moving through the amapiano-laced resilience of “Hold Me Down,” Is Love Enough? documents love’s unglamorous corners with restraint and specificity. “Good Kinda Love” blends seemingly Indian rhythms with nervous sweetness, while “Too Long” captures the fatigue of giving someone more time than they deserved. Kayan closes with “I’m Fine,” offering up a hook like an increasingly unconvincing prayer over Afrobeats-influenced production. What makes this 13-minute project especially affecting is Kayan’s willingness to sit with denial, disappointment and the messy in-between without making it about vocal acrobatics or production chops. 

Sen – Pages From The Past 

For all their bravado and badassery, rock artists often become reticent as they grow older. There was a bit of reluctance on Kolkata-bred, Goa-based artist Sen, aka Ananda Sen, to release his album Pages From The Past for fear that it was a little too personal. Made with his friend and extraordinary proponent for rock, Miti Adhikari (who passed away just days before its release) as well as former bandmates from The Supersonics and fellow Kolkata-bred artist Suyasha Sengupta, Pages From The Past has endearing chapters of a life well-lived and adventured. Meant to be heard in its entirety, Sen has now taken the album on the road (after being expectedly reluctant and cynical about being in the Indian indie scene), and it’s a shining tribute to Adhikari (the rock champion he was at heart) and maybe the closest we’ll get to a Supersonics reunion, and we’ll take that. 

The post The 25 Best Indian Albums and EPs of 2025  appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

As the credits roll signalling the end of 2025, there have been several unforgettable characters that have lived and breathed on screen. Some have lingered in our memories longer than the others, like imaginary ghosts taking up space, their existence looping on repeat in the theater of our minds.

Their impact is undeniable, making us question everything from their motives to their journeys. In order of release date, here are some of the films from around the world that stood out on the silver screen this past year.  

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Zambia)  

Directed by Rungano Nyoni 

When Nyoni’s grandmother died, she penned her dream down. That dream, born out of grief, has taken the shape of a 95-minute film. Uncle Fred is dead, his body is discovered on a desolate highway by his niece, Shula. Uncle Fred has a long list of sexual assault charges to his name but as per tradition, the funeral will be held and everybody must grieve for the deceased. Shula, a victim of sexual assault herself, becomes a reluctant mourner in a performative funeral. A guinea fowl’s job is to alert the savanna of the coming danger. Here, Shula is the guinea fowl, and the danger was Uncle Fred. But now that the danger is dead, is the coast clear or will the pain and burden brought about by generational trauma and silence persist? 

Train Dreams (United States) 

Directed by Clint Bentley 

This is a quiet film. Based on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, it follows the life of Robert Grainer, spanning eight decades set during the late 1800s to the slightly more modern early 1900s. Life is like a train, you get a ticket without knowing where you’ll end up. You take your seat and watch the world pass by around you. You stop for a while at each station, soaking it in. Passengers come and go, but you stay rooted to your seat, governed by inertia until you finally arrive at your destination. Robert Grainer was packed off on the Great Northern Railway as a little boy; he didn’t know where he came from or where he was going and wandered through life in a dreamlike haze. This is a tender film, grounded in the reality of what it is to take that journey on the train called life. No matter what happens, you are helpless and you can’t get off until you reach the last station. This film makes fantastic use of third-person narration, gently guiding the story along one stop at a time.  

Kokuho (Japan) 

Directed by Lee Sang-il 

Ningen Kokuhō translates to ‘Living National Treasure,’ an award bestowed by the government of Japan to a master of a craft, working in a field dedicated to preserving art of cultural significance like music, noh and even kabuki. This 175-minute film encompasses five decades of Kikuo, a kabuki actor’s life. When 14-year-old Kikuo’s father, a yakuza boss, is killed, he is taken in as an apprentice by a renowned kabuki master and trained alongside the master’s son Shunsuke. Both of them specialize in onnagata — male actors who play the roles of women in kabuki. Their strong bond of brotherhood is tested are they are pitted against each other both on and off stage. Fame, success, skill and talent alone aren’t enough to make it in an industry where your blood determines your worth. Both Ryo Yoshizawa (Kikuo) and Ryusei Yokohama (Shunsuke) trained for a year to prepare for their roles as kabuki artists, and it shows in their performances in the film. Playing out as dramatic as a kabuki performance, Kikuo’s saga gives you a front row seat to the elusive, often ruthless, but undeniably beautiful world of kabuki. 

Sentimental Value (Norway) 

Directed by Joachim Trier 

When their mother passes away, Nora and Agnes find their estranged film director father, Gustav, coming back into their lives. His next project is about their grandmother Karin, who killed herself in their family home when Gustav was a child. It is to be shot on location, and he’s written the lead role for Nora, who’s an actress, as a peace offering. Nora refuses, prompting Gustav to cast famous Hollywood actress, Rachel Kemp in her stead, leading to greater strain on their bonds. What follows is a realistic look at complicated relationships, generational trauma and how sometimes, creative outlets–not time–can be used to heal wounds. Gustav’s film isn’t just about his mother. Its scale stretches to warmly envelop his daughters, himself and even his grandson. One of the takeaways is that when art is something deeply personal, it’s hard for an outsider to convey those emotions, as seen from the differences in Nora’s and Rachel’s performances for the same monologue. Fantastic performances from Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning with Trier and Eskil Vogt’s strong screenplay is what makes Sentimental Value stand out. This film within a film is one of the most genuine portrayals of fractured familial relationships and how they can be glued back together one shattered piece at a time to create something beautiful–kintsugi at its finest.     

Sound of Falling (Germany) 

Directed by Mascha Schilinski 

In this haunting film, the viewer is made to wander like a ghost through a farmhouse in Saxony-Anhalt, Northern Germany. Four women of different ages scattered across different times are tied together by an invisible anchor, tethering them to the same geographical location. Etched into the estate are the trapped echoes of memories, eroding the walls with generational trauma, abuse and other dark secrets that stain the wallpaper. Time flows disjointed, past and present coalescing as you witness the lives of those who occupy the space between these walls; peering through a keyhole, between the bars of a window, obscuring your view of a door that’s left slightly ajar. You come away feeling uncomfortable, an unwelcome phantom that bears witness to something not meant for an outsider’s eyes. Schilinski’s second feature film is a century of wallpaper affixed to the walls of a house that begs you not to look away, no matter how melancholic the pattern is. 

No Other Choice (Korean) 

Directed by Park Chan-wook 

This is the Korean remake of a 2005 French film Le couperet (The Axe), which in turn was an adaptation of Donald Westlake’s novel of the same name. Finding a job is the modern version of the Labour of Hercules; today’s world has an oversaturated job market, featuring enough desperados who would gladly take anything they can get. Plus, there’s AI, which can replace their human counterparts, saving the company time and money. Park Chan-wook has expertly depicted a disgruntled laid-off employee’s sure-fire method to landing that dream job. Loyalty is seldom rewarded, as Man-su finds when he’s fired from his company. Constantly passed up wherever he applies, helplessness and desperation sink their claws into him. He’s a good man, a family man, and he needs a job. His solution? Eliminate the competition. He’s sure to land a gig if his competitors are dead. The cinematography and sound serve as another layer of throwing the audience off because you never know what to expect. Darkly comedic and mildly concerning, No Other Choice is the office worker’s guide to murder.  

Frankenstein (United States) 

Directed by Guillermo del Toro 

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus is the reanimated corpse that refuses to die, two centuries later. This book has received countless adaptations, all of which vastly differ from the source material. While del Toro’s is the closest we’ve come to getting a faithful adaptation, it undoubtedly isn’t what Mary Shelley penned down all those years ago. Instead, this film focuses on an aspect of the Creature that most adaptations choose to forget — that this patchwork galvanized corpse held together by stitches with the overpowering need to be human just wants to be accepted by his creator, Victor. As a result, in the pursuit of showcasing the humane side of the Creature, the film humanizes him a little too much. But interpretations are what keep the source material alive, and it is undeniable that this is a classic Gothic horror story done right. Finally, the Creature gets his spot in the sun.   

Blue Moon (United States) 

Directed by Richard Linklater 

It’s a tough choice between two of Linklater’s biographical directorials Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague, but Blue Moon wins out by an inch. Blue Moon is one night in the life of Lorenz Hart. One of Broadway’s biggest breakups was of the songwriting team Rogers and Hart who were responsible for a lot of standards like “My Funny Valentine,” “Blue Moon,” “Manhattan” and “The Lady Is a Tramp.” On the opening night of Oklahoma!, the play which would cement the partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Hart departs the play early and finds himself at the bar at Sardi’s. Hart waits anxiously, despair pooling at the pit of his stomach for the inevitable rave reviews for a project he backed out of and his own declining career. When the crowd arrives and the night progresses, it becomes increasingly painful and an uncomfortable sort of funny. The kind in which you find yourself laughing in situations that are frankly bittersweet and heartbreaking. Ethan Hawke, digitally shrunk and looking quite unrecognizable in a combover, delivers a brilliant performance as Hart. Blue Moon feels like a play masquerading as a film, which perhaps makes it an apt tribute to Lorenz Hart.    

The Secret Agent (Brazil) 

Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho 

The story unfolds in 1977 Brazil, set against the canvas of the country’s military dictatorship spanning 21 years. Armando arrives in Recife when the Carnival is in full swing and is caught in the maelstrom. This is an unusual spy thriller, moving at a languid pace with a complicated cast of characters that merits at least three watches to untangle each thread of the film’s tapestry, all of which could very well stand as individual films themselves. Corruption, political unrest, hired hitmen, a tiger shark and a severed leg; in the world of The Secret Agent, paranoia is injected into the characters’ veins, whether they like it or not.    

Hamnet (United Kingdom) 

Directed by Chloé Zhao 

Shakespeare is a bard who is as colorful and intriguing as the characters in his plays and whose life is as rich as his stories. But in Hamnet, it is his wife, Agnes (whose name was changed from Anne) who takes center stage, shining brighter than the spotlight. The story focuses on the courtship and marriage of Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and the tragedy that is the death of their only son. Buckley’s powerful performance is balanced by Mescal’s understated one, both perfectly depicting the two sides of people broken by grief. Dreamlike, heartbreaking and surreal, Zhao’s film feels as mystical as the woods Agnes feels at home in.    

The post The 10 Best World Cinema of 2025  appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

Picture this: It’s finally Christmas, the gingerbread cookies are ready, and as everyone eagerly makes their way into the living room, the great movie debacle begins. While some want to soak in the saccharine dullness of Hallmark movies, others want to opt for a more rom-com-infused pick. As chaos ensues, the screen sadly flickers, with “Are you still watching?” glimmering in the distance.

Perhaps, the solution to the watchlist conundrum is not to pick the most quintessential X’mas flick, but choose the most off-grid option. It’s time to ditch the predictable plot lines, unimaginably corny climaxes, and overtly sappy soundtracks for a more diverse catalog that has something in store for everyone. From daylight horror flicks to Bollywood comedy essentials, beat all the performative cinephile allegations as Rolling Stone India brings to you a not-so-cliched Christmas watchlist.

The Parent Trap (1998)

Is it even the holiday season without a Nancy Meyers movie? Unlike stereotypical Hallmark film slop, The Parent Trap doesn’t walk around clichés (identical twins separated at birth, English versus American lifestyles, “evil stepmother”, and more), but rather pokes fun at them in its own way. Turns out, summer camps are a true ground for mending wounded relationships, as Anjali from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai would know. Starring Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, and Natasha Richardson, the Nineties film follows identical twins Hallie and Annie (both played by Lohan) trying to bring their once-separated parents back together after a fateful meeting at a summer camp. With its cozy escapism, themes of family and reconciliation, The Parent Trap feels like a comforting hug of a film, perfect for Christmas viewing, when all you really want is a little nostalgia, a little magic, and the reassurance that broken families (and hearts) can still find their way back together.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Christmas deserves a Kubrick entry, and Eyes Wide Shut fits the brief. An erotic psychological drama, the plot unfolds in a high-society setup, featuring Dr. Bill Hathford (Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman). Riddled with sexual tension, from orgies to occult practices, the film taps into the human subconscious, particularly the moral greyness of desire. Set against a backdrop of glittering Christmas lights and decadent holiday parties, Eyes Wide Shut is a strangely fitting festive watch that uses the season’s polished surface to expose the darker, unspoken desires beneath, a provocative counterpoint to the usual cheer and sentimentality.

In the Mood for Love (2000)

A stunning, audio-visual masterpiece, In the Mood for Love is a cinematic treat. With carefully crafted frames, full of longing, the film leaves space for all that remains unsaid. Set against the bylanes of British Hong Kong, the plot focuses on an unconventional love story between protagonists Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) and  Chow-Mo wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), one born out of extramarital affairs. Take your yearn-o-meter up a notch as you press play on this critically acclaimed film. Its hushed intimacy, slow-burn romance, and aching sense of loneliness make it an unexpectedly perfect Christmas watch, ideal for a season of heightened emotions and reflection.

American Psycho (2000)

A film that tapped into the soulless finance bro trope ahead of its time, American Psycho is a non-negotiable vibe-setter. Enter Patrick Bateman, the OG ten-step skincare girlie, whose maladaptive, violent fantasies, powered by patriarchy, are slowly taking over his present reality. Sigh, employment (cue drum sting). Aside from his murderous ordeals and psychopathic tendencies, Bateman’s hyper fixation with critiquing mainstream Eighties pop rock remains resolute. Now that’s a true melomaniac right there. With a brutally satirical plot that’s guaranteed to cut through the season’s sugar rush, American Psycho deserves to a worthy contender for an X’mas movie night.

Golmaal 3 (2010)

One thing about 2010s Bollywood brainrot is its everlasting versatility, and Golmaal 3 certainly fits all the bills. Part of the Golmaal franchise, the third instalment of Rohit Shetty’s car-crashing cinematic universe unravels familial layers existing between the rival groups, led by Madhav (Arshad Warsi), and Gopal (Ajay Devgn). With clever nostalgic comebacks, knee-slapping comedy, riveting puns, and a notable plot twist, the film acts as a desi palate cleanser for all the Hallmark movie mush you must have consumed earlier. And lastly, what better way to welcome the festive cheer than to have Kareena Kapoor’s iconic “Bhenchik marone posli chusio” dialogue echoing in the background?

Delhi Belly (2011)

Gather your roommates, this is going to be a lore-laden watch. Delhi Belly is one of those films that got its flowers much after its initial run. One can even say it aged like fine wine, Christmas style. Shedding away his iconic chocolate boy demeanor, Imran Khan’s Tashi joins Kunal Roy Kapur’s Nitin and Vir Das’ Arup for a raunchy adventure of misfits navigating mundanity and money problems that is sure to shock and awe. Unbeknownst to them, a package switcheroo turns their world upside down, landing them in the most unsuspectingly comical scenarios. 

Lady Bird (2017)

For those who want to enjoy an A24-esque, somber Christmas, Lady Bird is right up your alley. Chronicling the complexities of mother-daughter relationships along with the audaciousness of adolescence, the film is equal parts heartwarming and gut-wrenching; kind of like the male version of the underrated classic, Udaan. Couple it with a cup of hot cocoa, a tissue box, and a cozy blanket, and you’re set to have a thought-daughter-coded Christmas.

Happy New Year (2015)

Barring its repetitive projectile vomit jokes, Happy New Year, at its very core, expands on a nail-biting heist with patriotic undercurrents. A Farah Khan brain-rot relic, the 2015 film is apt for when you want to keep your “cinephile” hat aside, and truly soak in the joy of watching something with your mind switched off. Add some spice to those recurrent movie picks by opting for this wild card, and your night is sure to turn into a riot. True to its title and celebratory spirit, it fits neatly into the Christmas-to-New-Year limbo, when excess, spectacle, and chaos just feel a little more acceptable.

Midsommar (2019)

Yes, Ari Aster fans, quit hollering now. Crank up the holiday madness to the extremes with Midsommar, a trippy daylight folk horror feature that is most certainly going to rob you of sleep. Bonus points if you’re watching it all alone, bunked up in your apartment. A masterful combination of oddities, the film doesn’t rely on the supernatural, but on the sickening extent to which human vulnerability can be manipulated. Starring Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, Jack Reynor, and more, Midsommar is not one to be digested in a single sitting; you’re bound to be rewinding, replaying, and pausing at easter eggs and background scenes, each an equally important cog that drives the story forward.

Sister Midnight (2024)

Fellow misandrists, rise up. Starring Radhika Apte, Chaya Kadam, Ashok Pathak, and more, the film, which is London-based filmmaker Karan Kandhari’s directorial debut, revolves around the most haunting premise of all: arranged marriage. A Small-town misfit, Uma miserably tries to squeeze into the domestic outlines of the “perfect” housewife. Every day is a test, right from her good-for-nothing husband’s retorts to the neighbors who are equally invested in her topsy-turvy marriage. Comically sardonic, Sister Midnight emulates Fleabag levels of supporting feminine wrongs, making it a watch that is bound to marinate cerebrally, even after the house party ends. The soundtrack also contains sonic surprises, with Paul Banks, a member of the band ‘Interpol,’ doubling as a composer. Why pick this for Christmas? Because amid a season obsessed with domestic bliss, family ideals, and forced togetherness, Sister Midnight presents a subversive counter-programme.

The post RSI Recommends: The Ultimate Offbeat Christmas Movie Watchlist appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

It’s been a big year for anime, especially when it comes to films, with both Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Arc and Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc looking larger than life on the big screen. But there’s also been a plethora of shows that released this year, and narrowing it down to a definitive list is as difficult as becoming a Pro Hero. Choices are subjective, and it’shard to categorize anime when each series is unique with its own strengths and weaknesses. For the sake of elimination, last year’s rankers like Dandadan, Ranma1/2 and Black Butler that were renewed this season will be excluded from this list. Without further ado in order of release date, here are some of the best animes that aired this year.  

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 

Studio: OLM, TOHO animation STUDIO 
Sometimes second seasons are better than the first, as is the case with this anime. Maomao was leading an idyllic life as an apothecary’s daughter until she was thrust into the Imperial Palace as a maid. Her plans of staying incognito are thrown out the window because the Imperial Palace is a hotbed of intrigues and conspiracies (as most courts are). Armed with her extensive knowledge of medicine, Maomao unravels the thread of mysteries, unmasking one culprit at a time. Perfect for those who love playing detective and can’t get enough of historical fiction.  

Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray 

Studio: CygamesPictures 

Racehorse lovers and equestrians, this one is for you. If you’ve been noticing a flood of horses or horse- related posts on the internet, thanks to the western localizsation of Uma Musume, then put on your blinkers and turn to the spin-off series focusing on Cinderella Gray. Uma Musume literally translates to horse girls and Cinderella Gray is the anthropomorphic anime-girl variant of real-life racehorse Oguri Gray (RIP). Can this country girl… er… horse girl make it to the big league? Real life horse Oguri Gray was nicknamed the ‘Idol Horse’ and his anime counterpart strives to make her moniker count. Uma-amazing, neigh-sayers will be left in the dust. 

Takopi’s Original Sin 

Studio: Enishiya 

Some anime exist to emotionally destroy you, and this is one of those so keep the tissues handy. Take E.T., make it a dark, psychological thriller, turn up the sadness and strip away any and all hope, and then you get Takopi’s Original Sin. Takopi, a cute little alien resembling an octopus has a dream:– to spread happiness across the universe. On Earth, he is rescued by Shizuka, a sad little girl who lives a miserable life. Takopi’s bid to make her happy only ends up making things worse. The more Takopi tries, the deeper the hole he digs for Shizuka. Good intentions don’t always yield good results. This is a tearjerker with a trigger warning.     

Milky☆Subway: The Galactic Limited Express 

Studio: Yōhei Kameyama 

This series of 3-minute shorts have all been produced, written and directed by one person —–Yōhei Kameyama. After being arrested for recklessly driving in space, Chiharu, a superhuman and Makina, a cyborg, have been sentenced to community service. Along with four other convicts, they have been tasked to clean the interplanetary train, Milky☆Subway. But when it suddenly activates, the violation of space traffic laws is the last thing on anyone’s mind. How do you begin to stop a runaway space train? Remember, drive responsibly, even in space, going at warp speed is only limited to the Starship Enterprise. 

The Summer Hikaru Died 

Studio:  CygamesPictures 

Yoshiki’s best friend Hikaru went missing for a week up in the mountains and returned. This would ideally be good news, if Yoshiki hadn’t chanced upon Hikaru’s corpse while searching for him. The new Hikaru isn’t the same nor does he seem human. But, he is determined to stick around and strike down anyone who gets in his way. Grief is a painful thing; loss is heartbreaking and letting go is out of the question for Yoshiki. Meanwhile stranger things than dead coming back to life is brewing in the town. It, looks like Hikaru isn’t the only monster that’s come down from the mountain. This eldritch rural horror is a slow- burn terror that perfectly encapsulates the suffocatingly eerie nature of small towns, death and the heavy price you pay for not being able to say goodbye.   

Gachiakuta 

Studio: Bones Film 

This year’s stand out shounen. In a world where things are carelessly discarded for the smallest reasons, Rudo gently salvages what’s left and makes them good as new. When he’s framed for the murder of his adoptive father, he’s thrown into the Pit, the dark cavernous opening that swallows up all the garbage. Contracting tetanus is the least of Rudo’s worries in the Pit, with its giant trash monsters and toxic air quality. He joins the Cleaners, a group that’s pushing back against the Trash Beasts in hopes of escaping the Pit and bringing his father’s killer to light.   

The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity 

Studio: CloverWorks 

Chidori Public School has an infamous reputation for being a school for delinquents. Rintarou Tsumugi certainly looks the part with his bleached hair and pierced ears, but that can’t be further from the truth for this gentle giant. A chance encounter with the beautiful and delicate Kaoruko Waguri, who sees him for who he really is, sets the stage for this year’s standout romance anime. Too bad Kaoruko goes to the elite all-girls Kikyo Private Academy, whose students look down on the Chidori students. This is Romeo and Juliet without the bloodshed or unnecessary drama. With an equally strong, well fleshed-out supporting cast, this anime takes a good, long look at growing up, insecurities, fear and expectations. Don’t judge a book by its cover, you might actually like what’s written underneath.  

My Hero Academia Final Season 

Studio: Bones Film 

In its heyday, My Hero Academia was the biggest name in modern shounen. Over the years, though, it has lost its shine due to a multitude of reasons:– the fandom space, the character arcs, the rushed battle sequences, and the rising popularity of other shounen anime. Nevertheless, the series persevered and finally culminates in this eighth and final season. Ending on an incredible high after nine long years, you can’t deny there was a reason this was so popular. Whether or not you’re still a fan, this finale is something you can’t miss, almost like attending the funeral of somebody you once considered a close friend . Goodbye Izuku, you’ll always be a hero.  

Gintama – Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class 

Studio: Bandai Namco Pictures 

Gintama is one of those shows where context isn’t going to help you explain the ludicrous situations its colorful cast of characters get embroiled in. Often breaking the fourth wall by parodying everything from Stephen King to Star Wars, the term copyright doesn’t exist in Gintama’s vocabulary. Occasionally there were segments in a high school setting with the main character, Gintoki, as the homeroom teacher. Now, that segment has got its own spin-off series with the same humour that makes you double over with laughter until your ribs ache. Ginpachi sensei has his hands full, with students’ temperaments ranging from a mayonnaise addict, a stalker gorilla, a baby-faced sadist and worse. In this seat of learning, sanity is thrown out the window and rules are non-existent. Class is in session!  

Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 

Studio: P.A. Works, Zexcs, Lapin Track, Studio Kafka, 100studio, Studio Graph77 

Before Chainsaw Man or Fire Punch, Tatsuki Fujimoto wrote a series of one-shot manga that laid the foundations for his later works. This anthology of eclectic short stories gives you a glimpse into the strange and absurdist mind of a mangaka who’s managed to subvert the expectations of a shounen protagonist. With stories ranging from a vampire hiring an assassin to end his years of immortal suffering to a little girl who’s the harbinger of the apocalypse, a boy teaching a mermaid how to play the piano, and a humans disguised as chickens post an alien invasion. This is a wild ride from start to finish.       

The post The 10 Best Anime Shows of 2025  appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

As we reach the last leg of the rollercoaster that was 2025, it’s understandable if you want to lounge around in your pajamas and doomscroll your remaining days into oblivion. With the year-ender blues setting in, the ghost of annual regret, ranging from incomplete bucket lists, secret Santa gift-wrapping shenanigans, and failed vision boards, may haunt you. But it’s during these moments of bleakness that you pick yourself up again and create your own magic, step by step. As the countdown to 2026 begins, embrace the stillness, indulge in merriment, and bask in tomfoolery with these Side Quests — Rolling Stone India’s series spotlighting the most uniquely curated events around the country.

The Indian Christmas Table, New Delhi

Taking “breaking bread” to a multisensorial level, Indicā’s “Indian Christmas Table” promises to serve you the best of the regional delights straight from the recipe books of the Indian Christian community. Curated by Chef Kartikeya Sinha, the menu boasts of homegrown realness, from lip-smacking pork sorpotel to string hoppers and vegetable stew, topped with a side of mulled wine.

When: Dec. 24, 2025
Where: Indicā, New Delhi

Get tickets here

Christmas Delights: Photo Walks Across Mumbai

For the photographers and meanderers who love a good saunter, this is your chance to explore the bylanes of your own city through a touristy lens. From the quaint, picturesque East-Indian villages of Matharpacady, Mazagaon, to the historic churches of Bandra, experience Christmas without the social media filters. Along with getting some cinematic shots, soak in the cultural anecdotes, witness intimate traditions, and experience the warmth of festive joy in the most authentic way possible.

When: Dec. 24 to Dec. 26, 2025
Where: Bandra, Matharpacady, Mumbai

Get tickets here

Wild Voices Choir, Mumbai

What better way to celebrate Christmas Eve than good ol’ fashioned carol singing? With the grand Afghan church acting as the backdrop, Wild Voices Choir, an Indian ensemble,  is set to bring a slew of unique choral renditions of X’mas classics, along with a dedicated candlelight service. As the clock strikes twelve, take a moment to savor the present as strangers sing together in perfect harmony.

When: Dec. 24, 2025, 10:30 PM onwards
Where: Afghan Church, Colaba
Entry: Free for all

Comedy Pop-Up, Mumbai

Goodbye secret societies, hello elusive comedy lineups. Ever attended a stand-up show without knowing the comic onstage? Khar Comedy Club promises to heighten the spontaneity quotient with their path-breaking “Comedy Pop-Up”. Bringing an eclectic mix of stand-up bigwigs and rising underdogs, this one’s for those who’d rather binge comedy specials than Christmas movies. Catch your favorite, or better yet, go back as a fan.

When: Dec. 26, 2025, to Jan. 31, 2026
Where: Khar Comedy Club, Mumbai

Get tickets here

‘Home Alone‘ Immersive Dining Experience, Gurugram

As they say, “Merry Christmas, you filthy animal!” For all the Home Alone gustatory enthusiasts, here’s your chance to get a taste of Kevin’s life, quite literally. “Taste Cinemas” is taking movie nights to a whole new level, or dare we say palate. Crafting dinner menus inspired by famous movies, the immersive dining showcase invites people to get a taste of cult classics, straight from the screen to the dining plate. The eight-course thematic dining experience encompasses everything from Kevin’s famous “Mac and Cheese” and the “OG Margherita Pizza” to the delectable “Santa Brownies.”

When: Dec. 27, 2025
Where: Moets Palm Villa, Gurugram

Get tickets here

Boards and Banter, Mumbai

If you spiritually identify as Abed from Community and are your friend group’s living, breathing rule book, then prepare to embark on the side quest of your dreams. Nestled inside the streets of Kandivali, “Boards and Banter” transforms into a one-stop hub, where seasoned professionals and amateurs alike bond over their shared passion for both classic and modern games. Over multiple rounds, strangers turn into potential competitors and eventually, cherished acquaintances. With “IRL” (In Real Life) being a core sentiment that defined this year, ditch that digital brainrot for some end-of-year shenanigans, one dice roll at a time.

When: Dec. 27, 2025
Where: Anita Road, Kandivali

Get tickets here

Pitch A Friend

It’s time to channel your inner startup bro and “Pitch” a friend. Your mission? Introduce your pal to a room full of strangers in the most whack way possible. Be it using gaudy props or creating unhinged PowerPoint slides, the world is your oyster. Indulge wholeheartedly in the “New Year, New Me” character development arc and take your “power-of-friendship” to new, unadulterated heights.

When: Dec.27, 2025 to Jan. 18, 2026
Where: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Pune

Get tickets here

Sunset Cinema Club: Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwaani 

Want to end your year on a Bollywood-coded note with your YJHD-core friend group? Then be prepared to block your calendars, as Sunset Cinema Club is bringing a pan-India, New Year’s Eve special rooftop screening of Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwaani. Place dibs on your beanbag of choice, grab a bucket of popcorn, and gear up to welcome 2026 with open arms, quintessential Bunny style.

When: Dec. 27, 2025 to Dec. 28, 2025
Where: Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Goa (Dates dependent on city of choice)

Get tickets here

The post Side Quests: The Most Offbeat Things To Do Across India Before 2025 Ends appeared first on Rolling Stone India.

This year nudged Indian storytelling into a quieter, more contemplative space. As Indian cinema and TV shows went through an indie-fication of sorts, the noise around big openings and star worship felt far less important than the emotional charge of a well-observed moment,  characters who breathe like real people, and the willingness to confront subjects that mainstream storytelling often pushes to the margins. A shift was visible everywhere — in the deliberate pauses, in conflicts that resisted quick, climactic payoffs, and in the thoughtful, grounded way filmmakers explored families, friendships and local communities.  Audiences gravitated toward stories that recognise ordinary life as worthy of cinema, and filmmakers trusted viewers to watch with curiosity instead of impatience. Here’s our list of the 25 best Indian films and TV shows that cut through the clutter this year. 

Homebound

Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound begins with a quiet dream shared between two boys in a North Indian village, one Dalit, one Muslim, and unfolds into something far more bruising than its modest opening suggests. The film turns away from the manufactured intensity that Indian cinema often leans on and instead sits inside silences, small gestures and the steady accumulation of helpless rage. Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa portray friendship without varnish, and the filmmaking mirrors that restraint: the camera holds, the music rarely intervenes, and emotion surfaces without needing any prompting. By looking at the 2020 exodus through the lens of caste and childhood, Homebound becomes a film that feels both urgently contemporary and already part of the country’s cinematic memory.

Chhaava

It was nearly impossible to ignore the swell around Chhaava this year. Laxman Utekar retells the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj through the figure of a young ruler caught between inherited duty and a fate shaped by brutality. Vicky Kaushal plays him with fierce physical command and an unguarded longing that peeks through the armour. The battles unfold with imposing scale and devotional detail, and the film moves with the charged rhythm of a crowd that knows this history by heart. For many, that emotional tide was reason enough to stay. For others, its sense of certainty left little room for ambiguity. What’s even more unmistakable is the force with which Sambhaji returned to the centre of popular imagination.

Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)

This Marathi film is small in the way a hand on your shoulder is small: easy to miss if you are looking for spectacle, impossible to forget once you feel it. A middle-aged man returns to his village after his father’s death rituals, and re-enters a relationship with Balya, the childhood friend who has always been more than that. Built through glances, shared chores and old jokes, it traces bodies that once loved and later learned to hide it. Kanawade, drawing from his own experience of coming home after his father’s death, chooses acceptance over crisis. Sundance recognized it with the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, acknowledging how gently it moves the needle for queer Indian cinema.

Black Warrant

Vikramaditya Motwane’s Tihar-set series may be the most finely crafted piece of Indian streaming this year. Adapted from Sunil Gupta’s memoir, it watches a young jailer walk into Tihar in the 1980s only to realize that the prison is not a backdrop — it’s its own country with its own constitution. Zahan Kapoor plays Gupta as a man constantly recalibrating his ethics while Rahul Bhat’s DSP Tomar embodies the system’s hard, pragmatic face. The show takes its time, observing how power shifts through small negotiations, subtle hierarchies and everyday bargains. Even figures like Charles Sobhraj and Ranga-Billa appear without fanfare, underscoring how control and violence are constantly contested within Tihar. Critics compared Black Warrant to Paatal Lok and Kohrra with good reason. It’s one of those rare Indian series that trusts mood, detail and moral complexity more than constant plot fireworks.

Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh

This is one of the year’s most divisive films, and it deserves to sit here precisely because of that. Karan Singh Tyagi’s courtroom drama puts Akshay Kumar in the role of C Sankaran Nair, the lawyer who challenged the British over the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The film wants to be a shout of rage at the empire and a tribute to a forgotten figure, and at its best, it manages to be both. Critics who liked it pointed to the crackle of the trial scenes, the indignation in Kumar’s performance, and the rush of seeing imperial arrogance called out in a mainstream Hindi film. Others saw only bluster, historical shortcuts and a script that treats nuance as a distraction. The truth is somewhere in the middle. The film’s energy is undeniable, but so is its tendency to treat patriotism as a volume knob. It matters that Jallianwala Bagh and Nair reached audiences who may never touch a history book. It also matters that we can now discuss how that history is shaped on screen. 

Dhadak 2

After the controversy around the first Dhadak softening Sairat’s brutal honesty, it was hard not to approach a sequel with suspicion. Shazia Iqbal quells that doubt in the opening minutes: the film begins with an honor killing and never lets you forget the stakes of caste, even when it is indulging in romance. Siddhant Chaturvedi’s Nilesh is a Dalit law student navigating a system that was never built for him. Triptii Dimri’s privileged Vidhi grows from infatuation into someone who can finally recognise his reality. The writing repeats certain beats, and the climax feels rushed, yet there is an undeniable sincerity in how the film stages humiliation, violence and small acts of resistance. It’s a sign that mainstream Hindi cinema is at least trying to look caste in the eye more directly.  

Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra

Dominic Arun’s Malayalam superhero film is the sort of swing that Indian mainstream cinema has been threatening to take for years. A yakshi (a female spirit from Kerala’s folklore) bound to the night, a young man who falls in love with her, and a world built from Kerala’s folklore rather than imported capes and suits. The film’s political current runs just below the surface, visible in the way it threads caste and colonial memory into its origin story without stopping for lectures. Visually, it has fun with the form: frames are composed like panels, edits mimic page-turns, and action sequences feel native to this realm rather than some anonymous CGI backlot. 

Bad Girl

Varsha Bharath’s debut looks, at first glance, like the familiar Tamil trope of a Brahmin girl pushing against a strict family, sneaking off with boys, and running headlong into consequences. What makes Bad Girl stand out is how steadfastly it refuses to either punish or glorify its lead character, Ramya. It simply follows her, from adolescence into her late twenties, as she tries to understand what she wants. Anjali Sivaraman plays Ramya with a mix of bravado and ache. The film lets her make foolish choices without rushing in to chastize her. It’s clear-eyed about caste, how “liberal” families police daughters, and the way older men romanticize youthful rebellion while safeguarding their own reputations. 

Humans in the Loop

Aranya Sahay’s film is one of the year’s most understated political plots as well as one of its most original. Set in a data-labelling centre that feeds an AI system, it follows Nehma, a young Adivasi woman whose deep knowledge of forests and seasons now sits behind a screen, reduced to tagging images for a model that will eventually pretend to “understand” the world. Sonal Madhushankar anchors the film in a language that’s constantly shifting between corporate calls and home. The film resists two easy paths: it neither paints technology as a pure villain nor romanticizes indigenous knowledge as magic. Instead, it suggests that AI, like any child, learns whatever its teachers choose to feed it, and that leaving out the people closest to land and labour is not an accident. 

Ronth

Shahi Kabir’s Malayalam thriller takes place over a stormy Christmas Eve in Kolkata and feels like the cinematic equivalent of a long, unsettling night drive. Two cops, one young and haunted, one older and worn down, chase a case through rain-soaked streets, abandoned buildings and memories they are trying to outrun. Roshan Mathew and Dileesh Pothan play off each other with a wary intimacy that suggests years of shared compromises. The film square focus is on the weight that accumulates when your job is about administering force. It’s not a film that will play to every crowd, but for those tuned into this register of moral ambiguity, it lingers. 

Sitaare Zameen Par

Aamir Khan’s return to the centre of a Hindi film that wants to teach you something about kindness carries heavy baggage from Taare Zameen Par (2007). This time, he plays a surly basketball coach named Gulshan who crashes his car while drunk and is forced by the court to train a team of neurodivergent young adults. The outline is borrowed from the Spanish film Campeones, but the cultural texture is very much local. The greatest strength here is the casting. The film works hard to ensure that its ten neurodivergent actors are not reduced to props in Gulshan’s redemption arc. 

Court: State vs A Nobody

Telugu cinema’s recent interest in grounded social thrillers finds a strong addition in Ram Jagadeesh’s legal drama. A junior lawyer with more conscience than clout takes up the case of a 19-year-old engineering student who is arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act ( POCSO) after crossing an influential relative of the girl he loves. Priyadarshi Pulikonda’s Surya Teja anchors the film as a lawyer who sees exactly how the law is bent. The courtroom drama unfolds through the tactical moves that expose class and caste bias, showing a system built to be misused. The film’s surprise box-office success in Telugu-speaking states further shows just how willing audiences are to back stories that marry genre and politics with care. 

Tanvi: The Great

Anupam Kher’s return to direction could easily have slid into syrup. A teenage girl on the autism spectrum, her bond with a retired army officer grandfather, a dream to one day salute the flag in Siachen after her father dies in service — it reads like a recipe for manipulative sentiment. But the film mostly sidesteps that temptation. Shubhangi Dutt plays Tanvi without ornamental cues or underlining; you understand her through habits, flashes of stubborn resolve, and moments when the world overwhelms her. Kher plays the grandfather with unusual gentleness, slowly learning how to stand beside her rather than lead. The second half stumbles in pace, but its belief in quiet, everyday acceptance leaves a steady afterglow.

The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case

Nagesh Kukunoor’s series, based on the book Ninety Days, reconstructs the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and the subsequent CBI manhunt with the patience of a case file and the muscle of a thriller. Amit Sial’s D R Kaarthikeyan is a methodical investigator slowly tightening a net that keeps threatening to break. The use of archival footage and a clear timeline grounds the show in history rather than conspiracy. Reviewers praised its seriousness for good reason. It gives viewers a coherent, absorbing way to understand how institutions moved in those ninety days. In a streaming environment fond of fictionalized “inspired by” narratives, that choice to stay close to documented reality feels almost radical. 

Pataal Lok, Season 2

Where the more populist spy shows went wider and louder, Paatal Lok went further underground. Season 2 drags Hathiram Chaudhary from Delhi’s grimy corners into Nagaland’s even more complicated political landscape of beheadings, insurgent networks, business interests, and electoral games. Jaideep Ahlawat continues to play a man whose moral exhaustion never turns into melodrama. Ishwak Singh’s Ansari, now decorated and more confident, gives the show a second axis. The new season expands the canvas without losing the muck under people’s nails. It’s dense television that asks you to keep up, and there are moments where the ambition outpaces the clarity. But when it lands, it reminds you why season one set a benchmark in the first place.

Panchayat, Season 4

Phulera has now lived in people’s heads long enough to feel less like a fictional village and more like that one place your friend keeps going back to for “a break.” Season 4 leans into that comfort. Instead of trying to rebuild the show from scratch, it circles local elections, an FIR that could derail Abhishek’s future, and a handful of dramatic village tales that could easily be anecdotes told over chai. The Jitendra Kumar–Neena Gupta–Raghubir Yadav core remains intact. Their scenes have that easy, overlapping cadence that makes you believe these people have been bickering for years. The Jitendra Kumar–Neena Gupta–Raghubir Yadav core remains intact, their scenes carrying the cadence of long-term familiarity. The writing shows some fatigue, with subplots that vanish quickly, but the Manju Devi–Kranti Devi election arc adds a much-needed spark. 

Criminal Justice: A Family Matter

Now in its fourth outing, Criminal Justice is increasingly about watching Pankaj Tripathi remodel Madhav Mishra in small, precise ways. This time, he lands between a celebrated surgeon, a dead nurse, a media circus and a family intent on hiding its fractures. True to form, the season finds the human seam beneath procedural beats. Mishra’s mix of underdog charm and sharp legal instinct stays intact. Zeeshan Ayyub’s Dr Raj Nagpal never becomes heroic or despicable, just recognisably flawed. At eight episodes, the season moves briskly enough that very few detours feel indulgent. You can sense the writers are aware of how crowded the legal-thriller space has become, and go the extra mile to keep the case grounded. 

Khauf

The women’s hostel horror story is such a rich Indian subgenre that it’s surprising we don’t see it more often. Khauf plants itself in a Delhi hostel room with a violent past and lets the dread seep in slowly. Madhu, played by Monika Panwar, arrives with her own baggage, and the show keeps blurring the line between what is supernatural and what comes from bruises you cannot see. Panwar is the big reason the series works when it does. She communicates fear as something that lodges in the body: a tightening jaw, a refusal to meet a gaze, a laugh that lands half a second late. Along with the haunting, there are fraught friendships, old traumas, and a final pivot that insists the real horror is human violence. The series doesn’t fully solve its own puzzle, but it gives the Hindi streaming space one of its more interesting horror attempts in years. 

Mandala Murders

If you grew up on overwrought TV thrillers that treated mythology like wallpaper, this Netflix series feels like a conscious attempt to do it differently. Set in a fictional Uttar Pradesh town, Mandala Murders follows a CBI officer and a disgraced local cop tracking ritualistic killings tied to an ancient order called the Mandala. The show’s strongest pull is sensory detail. It looks and sounds like it believes in its own mythology, with carefully built symbols, dual timelines flowing between the 1950s and the present, and a colour palette steeped in slow dread. Vaani Kapoor’s Rea Thomas is steely, while Vaibhav Raj Gupta brings a bruised urgency. The plot can feel overstuffed, but as a mythology-meets-crime experiment, it’s genuinely intriguing.

Special Ops, Season 2

Neeraj Pandey’s espionage series returns with cyberwarfare as its new toy. Himmat Singh and his team are now racing against coordinated attacks on India’s digital backbone, from UPI to national databases, with a globe-trotting canvas that hops through European capitals. Kay Kay Menon remains the franchise’s gravitational pull, giving Himmat that particular mix of wry humour and bone-deep fatigue that makes him more than a stock “handler.” Tahir Raj Bhasin’s antagonist brings the right amount of charm and menace. It’s engrossing in the moment, even if its plot dissolves a little too soon  after the credits roll.

The Family Man, Season 3

The Family Man’s latest chapter uproots Srikant Tiwari from familiar urban settings and drops him into Nagaland, where insurgency, a peace initiative and global arms networks intersect. The show continues to juggle its signature domestic humor with high-stakes espionage. Manoj Bajpayee remains the franchise’s biggest asset, moving from deadpan one-liners at therapy to morally complicated choices in the field without ever feeling like two different people. The Nagaland setting opens up new visual and political terrain, and the addition of actors like Jaideep Ahlawat to the cast injects fresh energy. For longtime fans, Season 3 delivered more of what they love: an everyman spy navigating problems at home and in the national security apparatus with equal levels of panic and ingenuity.

The Bads of Bollywood

In The Bads of Bollywood, Aryan Khan turns the Hindi film industry into both subject and stage. Stars and industry figures play caricaturized versions of themselves in a satirical look at gossip, scandals and the chaotic ecosystem that keeps Bollywood buzzing. The central pleasure for many viewers was seeing big names lean into self-mockery, spoofing everything from blind items to “gym pap” culture and the never-ending nepotism debate. The show works best in these moments of self-awareness, where insiders allow the audience to be in on the joke. As a debut, it establishes Aryan Khan as someone interested in both celebrating and teasing the world he grew up in, hinting at sharper jibes to come.

The Royals

The Royals fulfil a very specific fantasy: the idea of stepping into a present-day Rajasthani palace where old titles and new start-ups coexist. Ishaan Khatter’s Prince Aviraaj and Bhumi Pednekar’s entrepreneur Sophia come from different worlds, and the series tracks what happens when those worlds are forced to share space. The show leans into opulent visuals with sweeping shots of forts, courtyards, jewellery and costumes that recall a more classical Bollywood royalty, while still making room for laptops and start-up pitches. Ishaan and Bhumi bring sincerity to their roles, and veterans like Sakshi Tanwar and Zeenat Aman add gravitas and charm. For viewers in the mood for escapist drama with a modern twist on royal-romance tropes, The Royals is an easygoing, glossy watch.

Tourist Family

Abishan Jeevinth’s Tourist Family introduces Tamil audiences to a Sri Lankan Tamil couple starting their lives anew in Tamil Nadu after the 2022 economic crisis. Pandian and Jothi, played by Sasikumar and Simran, bring with them memories, fears and a determination to rebuild. The film uses humour and warmth to balance the heavier themes of displacement and belonging. Village settings, local festivals and everyday interactions help ground the refugee experience in recognisable Tamil cultural contexts. Simran and Sasikumar share a lovely, understated chemistry that makes their small victories and setbacks feel personal. Tourist Family ultimately works as a heartfelt story about resilience, community and the second chances that come with migration.

Search: The Naina Murder Case

Search: The Naina Murder Case is built around the compelling idea of a high-profile serial-murder investigation seen through the eyes of a seasoned detective played by Konkona Sen Sharma. Set in a world saturated with social media and influencer culture, the series taps into very current anxieties around visibility and danger. Konkona, as always, gives her character a quietly authoritative presence. Even small scenes gain weight when she is on screen, and her reading of clues and suspects draws viewers into the procedural rhythm. The show’s visual language leans into screens, notifications and digital traces, reflecting the way contemporary investigations unfold. For audiences drawn to moody, character-led crime dramas with a strong central performance, Search offered a dark, contemporary mystery to dive into.

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