Mumbai:IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV, and celebrities, today announced the most popular Indian stars and directors of 2025, based on page views from more than 250 million monthly visitors worldwide. Rising stars Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda claimed the top two positions after their breakthrough performances in romantic drama Saiyaara, directed by Mohit Suri, who ranks as this year’s most popular Indian director. Additionally, in August, Ahaan and Aneet were presented with the IMDb “Breakout Star” STARmeter Award, which has proven to be a keenly accurate predictor of stars who are about to have a breakthrough career moment.
“This year we are introducing our first-ever IMDb Most Popular Indian Directors list alongside our annual Most Popular Indian Stars ranking,” said Yaminie Patodia, head of IMDb India. “In the 25 Years of Indian Cinema IMDb Industry Report, we highlighted the emergence of directors as the key architects of this new era of Indian cinema. Filmmakers now consistently appear on our weekly rankings alongside actors, signaling that directors themselves are becoming fan favourites, with world-building and storytelling as the new engines of fandom.”
Thanking his fans, Ahaan Panday shared, “This is deeply humbling for me. To be ranked No. 1 on the IMDb Most Popular Indian Stars of 2025 list with my first film is nothing short of a dream come true and a full circle Paulo Coelho moment. But truly, if anything, this recognition makes me a little more aware of the responsibility I have towards my craft, and at the same time, it excites me for what’s to come. I would want to thank my director Mohit Suri for allowing me to add to his canvas. Whatever I did on screen was a reflection of his guidance and his genius. I would like to thank Aditya Chopra for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to prove myself on screen and for believing I was capable. I’d also like to thank Shanoo Sharma for believing in me. Her love and passion helped me grow through the thicket, and I thank her for teaching me that there’s no limit to dreaming, and my producer Akshaye Widhani for his faith in me. I look forward to returning soon with my second film, and this honour is motivation enough to try and deliver a performance that will resonate deeply. I thank every single person from across the world who has supported me and rooted for me in Saiyaara. I thank everyone for helping the stars align and giving me something I could cherish for a lifetime, but mainly, I thank everyone for allowing the grandson of a heart surgeon to be a vessel for love. There’s nothing more poetic. All love here, always.”
Sharing her gratitude, Aneet Padda said, “Being recognised by IMDb as one of the Most Popular Indian Stars of 2025 still feels a little unreal. Saiyaara changed my life in ways I am only beginning to understand, and to know that people across countries and languages connected with my work means more to me than I can explain. I am deeply grateful to everyone who found something to love in Vaani. Your warmth has made this moment possible for me. I want to thank Mohit Suri for seeing something in me before I saw it in myself. The faith in his eyes on set gave me a strange, steady courage. Saiyaara made me braver as an actor. Thank you to Aditya Chopra for trusting me with a film that will stay close to my heart forever, to Shanoo Sharma for shaping me with honesty and care, and to Akshaye Widhani and the entire Saiyaara family for supporting me at every step. This honour from IMDb feels like a gentle push toward everything I want to grow into: more clarity, more curiosity, and more craft. I am soaking all of this in as I step into my next film. Thank you for the love. It is the biggest fuel I have.”
IMDb Top 10 Most Popular Indian Stars of 2025
Ahaan Panday
Aneet Padda
Aamir Khan
Ishaan Khatter
Lakshya
Rashmika Mandanna
Kalyani Priyadarshan
Triptii Dimri
Rukmini Vasanth
Rishab Shetty
*The IMDb Top 10 Most Popular Indian Stars of 2025 list is comprised of stars who consistently ranked the highest on the IMDb weekly rankings throughout 2025. These rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide.
IMDb Top 10 Most Popular Indian Directors of 2025*
Mohit Suri
Aryan Khan
Lokesh Kanagaraj
Anurag Kashyap
Prithviraj Sukumaran
R.S. Prasanna
Anurag Basu
Dominic Arun
Laxman Utekar
Neeraj Ghaywan
*The IMDb Top 10 Most Popular Indian Directors of 2025 list is comprised of filmmakers who consistently ranked the highest on the IMDb weekly rankings throughout 2025. These rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide.
Additional information about this year’s Most Popular Indian Stars and Directors:
Ishaan Khatter (No. 4 star) and Triptii Dimri (No. 8 star) are the only actors from the Most Popular Indian Stars of 2024 list who appear in this year’s list as well.
Rashmika Mandanna (No. 6 star) has had a diverse slate of releases this year across different genres and languages. She starred in the Hindi films Chhaava, Sikandar, and Thamma, and the Telugu films Kuberaa (shot simultaneously in Tamil) and The Girlfriend.
Aryan Khan made his directorial debut this year with the much talked about series The Ba***ds of Bollywood. He is not only the youngest director to feature on the list but also the only series director on it.
Neeraj Ghaywan (No. 10 director) directed Homebound, which is India’s official entry to the 2026 Academy Awards.
To learn more about this year’s IMDb Most Popular Indian Stars, watch this video and view the full list here.
To learn more about this year’s IMDb Most Popular Indian Directors, watch this video and view the full list here.
About IMDb
IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Hundreds of millions of customers all over the world rely on IMDb to discover and decide what to watch, advance their professional entertainment careers through IMDbPro, and grow their businesses using IMDb data and trending insights. Products and services to help fans discover and decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and, X-Ray on Prime Video. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at developer.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit https://www.imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb_in.
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