Bollywood 2025: Violent men, silent women, and sequels nobody asked for – a year-end report card

It’s interesting how December is both a time for festivity and introspection. On the one hand, we look forward to celebrating with family and friends; on the other, each of us takes stock of the year that’s about to end and creates a mental report card of our personal and professional accomplishments. I couldn’t help but go through everything I wrote this year, which in turn got me thinking about the films released this year, both theatrically and on OTT platforms.

Looking back at this year, I realised that Bollywood’s 2025 epitaph could be summarised into a single line- Muscles, sequels and a few silver linings. Bollywood, or mainstream Bollywood films, stayed firmly inside the box this year, trying to play it safe but ending up seeming stagnant. Though there were definitely a few exceptions, the Hindi films that were released in 2025 can be broadly divided into four categories.

1. Violent and/or male-dominated narratives

1. Sequels, spiritual sequels and remakes
2. Love stories
3. The outliers- films that actually tried to push the envelope with the limited number of screens and timings of shows given to them by multiplex chains across the country.

   Men being violent and women being silent or sidelined seemed to be a common trope with many big-budget films this year that found varying degrees of real or engineered success. Dhurandhar, which was released on the 5th of December, seemed to be the grand finale to a year where male stars continued to choose hypermasculine characters who were licensed or likely to kill. The year began with Deva starring Shahid Kapoor playing a sexist, trigger friendly cop who has to lose his memory to gain some sensitivity.

   Shahid Kapoor in a still from Deva.

   Sky Force also released the same month, and while it refreshingly toned down the jingoism, the film was far too reminiscent of Fighter to really distinguish itself to audiences. As the year progressed, we had Vicky Kaushal roaring through Chhaava, Rajkummar Rao indulging in massy dialoguebaazi and murderous rage with Maalik, Salman Khan sleepwalking through Sikandar, Tiger Shroff attempting to reinvent his abs in Baaghi 4, and Hrithik Roshan struggling to seem invested in War 2, a film so shoddy it may bring an untimely end to the YRF Spy Universe.

   If the previous paragraph was any indication, sequels were sequelling this year across genres and irrespective of whether one was needed in the first place. Ka-bore, oops Kabir returned in War 2 to battle his childhood bestie turned foe Vikram (Jr NTR), Akshay Kumar was a part of Jolly LLB 3 and Housefull 5, the latter being an abomination. Ajay Devgn also showed great commitment to sequels with Raid 2, De De Pyaar De 2 and Son of Sardaar 2. But what is shocking is that even in the year 2025, a film like Mastii 4 found financing, and actors who were willing to behave like scum and or be the subject of lewd and crude gags. Can the fraternity decide just how many more years we have to be subject to movies where men wanting to cheat on their wives is passed off as humour, and double entendre is the script? Are we really so creatively bankrupt that we have to watch a fourth or fifth instalment of middle-aged men lusting after women or joking about waking up women who aren’t their partners?

   In addition to actual sequels, we also had many spiritual sequels this year. There was Dhadak 2, which was a spiritual sequel to Dhadak. While Dhadak was a remake of the Marathi film Sairat, Dhadak 2, a far more impactful film, was an adaptation of the Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal. We also had Metro in Dino by Anurag Basu, which was a spiritual sequel to his own film Life in a… Metro. Though the film had great music and some breezy romantic moments, it didn’t really offer any fresh perspective on love and lacked inclusivity in its depiction of modern love. There was also Sitaare Zameen Par, a simple, heartwarming film whose title and subject linked it to Aamir Khan’s previous film Taare Zameen Par. One can perhaps include Thamma in this category as well, considering it’s the next instalment of the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, adding a vampire to its universe of spooks and shape-shifting beings.

   Dhadak 2 was directed by Shazia Iqbal.

   It was great to see love and love stories get attention again in 2025, but perhaps it’s time we see a little more experimentation and representation in this genre. This year’s watershed moment in many ways was Saiyyara, both literally, given how many people filmed themselves weeping in movie theatres and in making dramatic love stories great again. Though it didn’t have big stars or the most original story, the film’s music, its talented lead pair and the portrayal of a Gen Z couple showing deep commitment to each other struck a chord with audiences. Unfortunately, the love stories that followed didn’t receive the same appreciation from the audience and perhaps rightly so. They were either plagued by stereotypes, like Param Sundari, or curiously pointless, like Sunny Sanskaari Ki Tulsi Kumari.  Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri is the last rom-com that came out this year and received the same reaction from the audience.

   Gustaakh Ishq and Tere Ishk Mein were released on the same day last month, but were as unlike as two love stories can be. Gustaakh Ishq celebrated old school romance and poetry, and Tere Ishk Mein, starring Dhanush and Kriti Sanon, had a man pouring a colourless liquid on a woman from a bottle that can be associated with acid attacks. In a country where women and men are subject to violence from their families over their choice of partner, and jilted suitors are known to violate or murder women who reject them, the Raanjhana school of romance is callous and completely unnecessary. Let’s hope 2025 is the last year we glorify toxic love stories and dysfunctional men who threaten violence if rejected by their partner.

   Though there were plenty of films that triggered rage, boredom and irritation, there were some silver linings or glimmers in the form of Homebound, Superboys of Malegaon, Jugnuma, Haq, Kaalidhar Laapata, Mrs, Nishaanchi and Humans in the Loop, amongst others. These were the few films this year that either tackled sensitive issues, had offbeat characters or storylines, were technically innovative or had more sensitive portrayals of discrimination and inequality. It’s unfortunate to see that some of these films struggled to find adequate shows in theatres, were directly released on an OTT platform, or are still struggling to be released on an OTT platform.

   A still from Superboys of Malegaon.

   Post the pandemic, we seem to have regressed in many ways, and under the guise of playing it safe, we have erased the space for stories, characters and actors who became successful by existing outside the box. One can only hope that in 2026, we don’t operate from a place of fear or assumptions about what the audience will watch. Perhaps films that don’t project a certain brand of masculinity, that don’t mask propaganda with patriotism, and that make space for women, the queer community and creativity in storytelling, will also find an opportunity to reach audiences. One can hope.