The Best Desi Pop-Culture Moments Of 2025

It’s that time of the year when we round up the best talents and works of art in the year gone by. But a line-up of the best pop culture moments isn’t about celebrating excellence. This is an acknowledgement of the cringe memes that flooded your DMs, the hook step you performed at every wedding, the internet celebrity you secretly stalked, and the song that spawned the most number of reels. So here goes:

Farah Khan and Dilip Win The Internet

Choreographer, filmmaker and now YouTuber Farah Khan let it slip that she has made more money as a content creator than from her illustrious film career of three decades. At 60, Khan has unlocked a new kind of fame on the internet — and not by starting a podcast like every other famous personality. Instead, she and her long-time cook Dilip have created something unique that’s part comedy and part cooking show. While Khan uses her access smartly by taking us into celebrity kitchens, the unexpected breakout star of her channel is Dilip, who has gone on to star in a commercial with Shah Rukh Khan. It’s definitely the best underdog story of the Internet this year!

Noida As A Movie Character

Nadaaniyan, starring Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor, gave the term ‘hate-watching’ a whole new meaning. The brutal criticism of its lead actors by the entire internet reached stratospheric levels, and an unlikely casualty of the incessant trolling became Noida — yes, the city. Khan’s character, who is meant to be poorer than his classmates, is from Noida. And when he’s being bullied about his Greater Noida roots, he lashes back with the line — I am from greatest Noida. The makers were never going to get away with such dialogue, but it inadvertently united irate citizens of Noida, who posted photos of their grand infrastructure to prove they aren’t the poor cousins of posh south Delhi.

Jaideep Ahlawat Can Dance

2025 may go down as a turning point in Jaideep Ahlawat’s career. And no, it’s not because of his excellent performance in Paatal Lok Season 2. The credit goes to the Netflix film Jewel Thief, which was dull and forgettable but did us one big favour — it revealed, in the song ‘Jaadu Sa’, that Ahlawat is also a fabulous dancer with killer moves. Once the secret was out, there was no stopping him. There’s a video of him and Malaika Arora at a dance event in Australia where the actor suddenly breaks into a bhangra on stage. The shock and awe on Malaika’s face accurately capture our feelings too.

The Saiyaara Memes

With Saiyaara, filmmaker Mohit Suri gave us many things — two new talented actors (Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda), good news for the box office, and a much-awaited return of love stories to the big screen. However, one could argue that the biggest gift he gave us was the Saiyaara meme; visuals of Gen Zs bawling their eyes out to the title track, collapsing in sadness, and carrying IV drips to cope with the heartbreak in the movie were gold. While a lot of the reactions were perhaps deftly orchestrated marketing stunts, it was still fun to watch. Give us this over a dancing Veer Pahariya forcefully infiltrating our timelines any day.

Diljit Dosanjh Does It Again

Every year, Diljit Dosanjh checks off a bucket list item in his global domination plans. This year, he was invited to the MET Gala, where he turned up as a royal. As always, he paid homage to his roots with his Prabal Gurung sherwani, feathered turban, a cape with the map of Punjab, a jewelled kirpan, and a recreation of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh’s iconic Patiala necklace by Cartier. Did he fully stick to the brief of Black Dandyism? It didn’t matter. His striking presence — and videos of him sharing a car ride with Shakira to the venue — made up for the relatively lukewarm reception to Shah Rukh Khan, who also made his MET Gala debut.

Raghav Juyal Loves Emraan Hashmi

If the buzz on the internet is to be believed, most people have watched and loved Aryan Khan’s directorial debut The Ba***ds of Bollywood. But one can say with certainty that everyone has watched, liked and shared the scene where Raghav Juyal passionately sings ‘Kaho Na Kaho’ from Murder to its star Emraan Hashmi. A teary-eyed Juyal going ‘Kulli Ku’ as he serenades Hashmi in Arabic is a moment for the ages.

Zohran Mamdani For The Win

Zohran Mamdani, son of filmmaker Mira Nair (now rechristened ‘Momdani’), won the New York mayoral elections, becoming the first Muslim and first Indian-American to hold the office. It was a historic victory, but it was amusing how urban India tracked every beat of his campaign, as if our AQI and dug-up roads depended on him winning. I suppose what did the trick was Mamdani’s liberal use of Bollywood references in his social media campaign. ‘Mere Paas Maa Hai’ from Deewar always works like a charm. And when his victory was announced to ‘Dhoom Machale’, it truly felt personal.

American Billionaires X Desi Pop Culture

Elon Musk on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s popular podcast, and Bill Gates on a Zoom call with Tulsi in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, were two unexpected collisions between American billionaires and desi pop culture. Musk and Kamath’s conversation may not have passed journalistic muster, but content creators had a field day with their awkward first-date vibes.

Akshaye Khanna Is Back

After Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna has become the next 90s heartthrob to make his return as a menacing bad boy. The gifted but largely under-the-radar actor has had a great 2025 with two big hits — Chhaava and Dhurandhar. But it was his portrayal of a killer mafia gang lord in the latter that’s broken the internet. A viral clip of him dancing in the film has catapulted Khanna to meme-level stardom. Curious younger audiences are digging out old movies and interviews of the reticent actor from cold storage. Meanwhile, millennials who’ve batted for Khanna since Dil Chahta Hai, Taal and Humraaz are feeling vindicated.