As 2025 enters its final day, welcome to the 16th edition of this yearly ritual of mine, one that has been deeply enriching and incredibly frustrating in equal measure! Personally, this hasn’t been a very pleasant year for me – this final quarter has been especially horrendous, causing me to drop two reviews I was really hoping to do, Metro… In Dino and Tere Ishk Mein. That also means that this year the roundup is going to be a shorter one, for which I apologise. I have only been able to work on four lists this year, my original foursome – the best of the year from Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and the indie/pop scene. I hope to be able to do the proper roundup in 2026. Onto the lists then, everything else regarding the roundup remains the same; I have gone by the wiki catalogue of this year’s releases for the three film lists, and I have created playlists on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. And there’s the consolidated playlist right here for anyone who doesn’t want to go through the trouble of the whole article:
All In One Playlists: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and peaceful 2026, may we have a lot more great music to savour through the year!
And shoutout as usual to the amazing @athulct for consistently creating artwork that is cooler than the content I put out!
Bollywood
Playlists: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
After a bleak looking first half of the year, Bollywood music scene seemed to work overtime in the second half to make up a decent output for 2025. We had some trusted combos like Anurag Basu-Pritam (Metro… In Dino) and Aanand L Rai-A R Rahman-Irshad Kamil (Tere Ishk Mein) deliver wonderfully, while Aamir Khan-Shankar Ehsaan Loy in Sitaare Zameen Par sadly didn’t produce anything half as memorable as TZP. One of the year’s other highlights was the two part soundtrack of Nishaanchi 1 and 2 – Anurag Kashyap going multi-composer for a change (Manan Bharadwaj, Anurag Saikia, Aaishvary Thackeray, Dhruv Ghanekar) and still managing a great set of songs, especially from Bharadwaj and Saikia. Most of the sequels of the year had forgettable music, but Dhadak 2, despite having the odds stacked against it – the movie it was a remake of, Ajay-Atul who did the first part being replaced by a multi-composer lineup etc. – had a very enjoyable set of songs. Among the rest, Amit Trivedi had his best year in a long time, delivering some quality songs across multiple movies, although his best work, IMO, happened in Tamil (Bad Girl). Sachin-Jigar continued to have a busy year, with their highlight of course being the blockbuster Pardesiya that stood out as a rare positive in Param Sundari. Vishal Bhardwaj, Rochak Kohli, Vishal Mishra and Shashwat Sachdev were a few others who had a prominent year.
30 Saathi (Phule) – Rohan-Rohan | Kausar Munir | Monali Thakur
29 Chal Chhod Na Yaar (Pune Highway) – Shor Police | Sudeep Naik | Siddharth Mahadevan, Varun Jain, Shashwat Singh
28 Kya Karun (Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan) – Vishal Mishra | Vishal Mishra | Vishal Mishra
27 Teri Yaadein (Mannu Kya Karegga) – Nishant Ramteke | Sharad Mehra | Raghav Chaitanya
26 Galatfehmi (Nadaaniyan) – Sachin-Jigar | Amitabh Bhattacharya | Tushar Joshi, Madhubanti Bagchi
25 Uyi Amma (Azaad) – Amit Trivedi | Amitabh Bhattacharya | Madhubanti Bagchi
24 Mausam (Metro In Dino) – Pritam | Qaiser-Ul-Jafri, Sandeep Shrivastava | Arijit Singh
23 Pul (Crazxy) – Vishal Bhardwaj | Gulzar | Vishal Mishra
22 Rendezvous Raja (Nishaanchi 2) – Anurag Saikia | Shashwat Dwivedi | Madhubanti Bagchi, Anurag Saikia
21 Haseen Pareshaaniyaan (Kaalidhar Laapata) – Amit Trivedi | Geet Sagar | Jubin Nautiyal, Shahid Mallya, Deepali Sathe
20 Lori (Aachari Baa) – S. Prasad | Priyanka R Bala | Shreya Ghoshal
19 Patang Ki Dor (Inn Galiyon Mein) – Amaal Mallik | Punarvasu | Armaan Malik, Palak Muchhal
18 Rab Ne Kiya Faisla (The Rabbit House) – Padmanabh Gaikwad | Vaibhav Kulkarni, Navdeep Panchal Shubh | Papon, Ananya Wadkar
17 Yun Hi Chale Gaye (Crazxy) – Osho Jain | Osho Jain | K.S. Chithra, Sarthak Kalyani
16 Raat Bhar (De De Pyaar De 2) – Aditya Dev, Payal Dev | Kumaar | Aditya Rikhari, Payal Dev
15 Yaariyaan (Ghich Pich) – Rohit Sharma | Shellee | Devender Pal Singh
14 Das Haasil (Metro In Dino) – Pritam | Sandeep Shrivastava | Raghav Chaitanya, Neeti Mohan
13 Deewana Deewana (Tere Ishk Mein) – A.R. Rahman | Irshad Kamil | A.R. Rahman
12 Saiyaara (Saiyaara) – Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, Arslan Nizami | Irshad Kamil | Faheem Abdullah
11 Preet Re (Dhadak 2) – Rochak Kohli | Gurpreet Saini | Darshan Raval, Jonita Gandhi, Rochak Kohli
10 Pardesiya (Param Sundari) – Sachin-Jigar | Amitabh Bhattacharya | Sonu Nigam, Krishnakali Saha, Sachin-Jigar
9 Baar Baar (Mrs.) – Sagar Desai | Neeraj Pandey | Palak Muchhal
8 Yaar Mere (Homebound) – Amit Trivedi | Varun Grover | Javed Ali, Papon
7 Qubool (Haq) – Vishal Mishra | Kaushal Kishore | Armaan Khan
6 Ishq Jalakar (Dhurandhar) – Shashwat Sachdev, Roshan | Irshad Kamil, Sahir Ludhianvi | Shashwat Sachdev, Shahzad Ali, Subhadeep Das Chowdhury, Armaan Khan
5 Dhuan Dhuan (Aap Jaisa Koi) – Rochak Kohli | Gurpreet Saini | Sanjith Hegde
4 Soja (Nishaanchi) – Manan Bhardwaj | Manan Bhardwaj | Vandana Sinha, Prajakta Shukre
3 Ul Jalool (Gustakh Ishq) – Vishal Bhardwaj | Gulzar | Shilpa Rao, Papon
2 Usey Kehna (Tere Ishk Mein) – A.R. Rahman | Irshad Kamil | Nitesh Aher, Jonita Gandhi
1 Mann Ye Mera (Metro In Dino) – Pritam | Neelesh Misra | Vishal Mishra
Malayalam
Playlists: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
With his outstandingly diverse work in Ponman and Painkili early in the year, it looked like Justin Varghese would comfortably be my composer of the year in Malayalam, but that was before Jakes Bejoy delivered the knockout punch in Lokah! Jakes has always excelled in folk-flavoured soundtracks (his work in Ayyappanum Koshiyum will forever rank among his best for me), and in Lokah he was able to take that folk penchant to a new level of grandeur. That and his work in Narivetta, also a very folk-infused album (not a big fan of his work in Thudarum; felt a bit too derivative and hence cramping his style), mean that the honour is shared between both Jakes and Justin. Mujeeb Majeed was another man who had a great year. We had two movies throwing back to the 80s sound quite effectively – Mujeeb’s Tamil soundtrack for Kalamkaval and Prashant Pillai‘s work for the Michael Jackson tribute that was Moonwalk. Speaking of retro throwbacks, Basil CJ – a man I rarely see in the scene despite being an incredible talent – delivered a soundtrack for the movie Ithiri Neram that has 6 well-made songs, each over 5.5 minutes in length, none of this 2-3 minute track nonsense. Forgot the last time I listened to a soundtrack like that. And after years of doing 3/4 songs in multiple movies post their brilliant debut back in Iyobinte Pusthakam, Neha-Yakzan finally got a proper 8-song soundtrack with Nellikkampoyil Night Riders, and did a fine job in it. The Thallumaala team of Vishnu Vijay and Khalid Rahman got back together in Alappuzha Gymkhana, and the result, albeit not as iconic, was still a thoroughly engaging piece of work. Justin Prabhakaran, who very nearly became my rare entry across all three languages (had to bump his Aap Jaisa Koi song off the Hindi list, unfortunately), continues to have a nice run with the Anthikkad family, having delivered across two of their movies this year (Hridayapoorvam, Sarvam Maya). I have also snuck one entry from 2024 into this list, a lovely song by PS Jayhari from the thoroughly endearing kids’ movie Sthanarthi Sreekuttan that I only discovered after my roundup last year.
30 Arikil Etho Novin (Machante Maalakha) – Ouseppachan|Sinto Sunny|Najim Arshad, Mridula Warrier
29 En Vaighai (Kalamkaval) – Mujeeb Majeed|Vinayak Sasikumar|Sindhu Delson, Sreerag Bharathan
28 Sambrani Penthiri (Vyasanasametham Bandhumithradhikal) – Ankit Menon|Vinayak Sasikumar|Adheef Muhamed, Ankit Menon
27 Maayum Maayum (Narivetta) – Jakes Bejoy|Vinu Kidachullan|Sruthi K. C.
26 Puthu Mazha (Sarvam Maya) – Justin P|Manu Manjith|Shakthisree Gopalan
25 Arike (Vala: Story of a Bangle) – Govind Vasantha|Rafeeq Ahammed|K. S. Chithra
24 Veyiloli Vitharum (Nellikkampoyil Night Riders) – Neha-Yakzan|Manu Manjith|Sachin Warrier, Neha S. Nair
23 Kanmanippoove (Thudarum) – Jakes Bejoy|B. K. Harinarayanan|M. G. Sreekumar
22 Heart Attack (Painkili) – Justin V|Vinayak Sasikumar|Fejo
21 Hatja (Alappuzha Gymkhana) – Vishnu Vijay|Suhail Koya|K. S. Harisankar, Vishnu Vijay
20 Malayajaavilolam (Jangar) – Bijibal|B. K. Harinarayanan|Sithara Krishnakumar, K. K. Nishad
19 Aarorum (Am Ah) – Gopi Sunder|Rafeeq Ahammed|Zeba Tommy
18 Kollam Paattu (Ponman) – Justin V|Anwar Ali|Resmi Sateesh
17 Jaalakkaari (Balti) – Sai Abhyankkar|Vinayak Sasikumar|Sai Abhyankkar, Sublahshini
16 Love Bite (Dheeran) – Mujeeb Majeed|Sharfu|Anne Amie, Gichu Joy
15 Kansoochi Thumbaal (Sthanarthi Sreekuttan) – P. S. Jayhari|Vinayak Sasikumar|Sooraj Santhosh, Saindhavi, M. M. Manasi
14 Vida Parayaam (Hridayapoorvam) – Justin P|Manu Manjith|Navaneeth Unnikrishnan, Devu Mathew
13 Minnalvala (Narivetta) – Jakes Bejoy|Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri|Sid Sriram, Sithara Krishnakumar
12 Paranje Paranje (Lokah) – Jakes Bejoy|B. K. Harinarayanan|Anuradha Sriram, K. C. Balasarangan, Dr. Neethusha, Anila Rajeev, Ajmal Fathima Praveen, Amritha Rajan, Aavani Malhar, Sony Mohan
11 Neeyorikkal (Ithiri Neram) – Basil CJ|Basil CJ|Sithara Krishnakumar, Viswajith
10 Viral Thodum (Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal) – Rahul Raj|K. S. Usha|Sruthy Sivadas
9 Baby Baby (Painkili) – Justin V|Vinayak Sasikumar|Himna Hilari, Hinitha Hilary, Lalitha Vijayakumar
8 Chiriye (Rekhachithram) – Mujeeb Majeed|Suhail Koya|Kapil Kapilan
7 Salsa – Marakaam Marakaam (Moonwalk) – Prashant Pillai|Sunil Gopalakrishnan|Hanan Shah, Mridul Anil, Preeti Pillai, Prashant Pillai
6 Kaadhal Ponmaan (Nellikkampoyil Night Riders) – Neha-Yakzan|Vinayak Sasikumar|Neha S. Nair, Vishnu Vijay
5 Azrael (L2: Empuraan) – Deepak Dev|Murali Gopy|Usha Uthup
4 Kandu Kandu (Odum Kuthira Chaadum Kuthira) – Justin Varghese|Suhail Koya|Aavani Malhar
3 Varum Pokum (Alappuzha Gymkhana) – Vishnu Vijay|Suhail Koya|Sangeeth, Vishnu Vijay
2 Queen of the Night (Lokah) – Jakes Bejoy|Zeba Tommy|Zeba Tommy
1 Paka (Ponman) – Justin Varghese|Suhail Koya|K. S. Chithra, Justin Varghese
Tamil
Playlists: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
There were multiple composers who delivered good songs across multiple albums this year – Sean Roldan, Santhosh Narayanan, G V Prakash Kumar, A R Rahman, but the one who impressed me the most was Nivas K Prasanna, who had his biggest project to date in Bison Kaalamaadan and handled it brilliantly. It was only Kumki 2, out of his 4 movies this year, that he disappointed in. The year also saw they much-hyped debut of Sai Abhyankkar in Dude, and the not-so-hyped Tamil debut of a bunch of others, the best among them being Amrit Ramnath (Bombay Jayashri’s son, for the uninitiated) in 3BHK – it was the latter’s debut that I found to be a more solid one, he even bettered his Malayalam debut from last year (Varshangalkku Shesham). Ilaiyaraaja had a few offbeat movies this year, but his biggest achievement, arguably the biggest achievement by an Indian musician this year, was of course the premiering of his Symphony No.1, Valiant in London’s Eventim Apollo (an event I was fortunate to attend). It was gladdening to see Kalyani Nair‘s Indian Choral Ensemble become more mainstream this year – I hope that continues into next year as well. What ideally shouldn’t continue is the Tamil fad of non-playback singers singing and ruining songs which was rampant this year as well, but I have minimal hopes of that happening. From a subtle nod to the audio cassette era with the Side A-Side B trend from a couple of years back (which continued in 2025 as well), Tamil film music took things to the next level by launching a “mini cassette” for the Prabhu Deva-A R Rahman movie Moonwalk earlier this month. Waiting to see what other revivals happen in 2026!
30 Theeratha Aasai (Enai Sudum Pani) – Mikkin Aruldev | Vasanth Balakrishnan | Naresh Iyer, Shweta Mohan
29 Kathiri Veyilil (Sumo) – Nivas K. Prasanna | Mohanrajan | Pragathi Guruprasad
28 Veezhadhe Va (IPL) – Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy | Aakash V., Tamilarasan Ra | Ashwin Vinayagamoorthy, Punya Selva, Aakash V., Tamilarasan Ra
27 Kanavugal Indri (Mask) – G. V. Prakash Kumar | Kaber Vasuki | Sublahshini
26 Aagasa Veeran (Thalaivan Thalaivii) – Santhosh Narayanan | Vivek | Pradeep Kumar, Dhee
25 Yen Uyire (Phoenix Veezhaan) – Sam C. S. | Karunakaran | Vijaynarain, Maanasi G Kannan
24 Valiye Valiye (Aaromaley) – Siddhu Kumar | Vignesh Ramakrishna | Sooraj Santhosh, The Indian Choral Ensemble
23 Thullum Nenjam (3BHK) – Amrit Ramnath | Karthik Netha | Shreya Ghoshal, Amrit Ramnath
22 Neelothi (Sirai) – Justin Prabhakaran | Sarathi | Sooraj Santhosh, Chinmayi Sripada
21 Kanne Kanmaniye (Nizharkudai) – Naren Balakumar | Padmaja Sriram | Saindhavi
20 Golden Sparrow (Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam) – G. V. Prakash Kumar | Arivu | Sublahshini, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Dhanush, Arivu
19 Kanne Kanave (DNA) – Sreekanth Hariharan | Karthik Netha | Sreekanth Hariharan, Sireesha Bhagavatula
18 Edho Pesa Thaane (Bun Butter Jam) – Nivas K. Prasanna | Vijay Sethupathi | Siddharth, Shilpa Rao
17 Bejaara Aanen (Love Marriage) – Sean Roldan | Mohan Rajan | Sivaangi Krishnakumar
16 Panimalare (Kaantha) – Jhanu Chanthar | Kutti Revathi, Sivam, Deepika Karthik Kumar | Pradeep Kumar, Priyanka NK
15 Yennai Izhukkuthadi (Kadhalikka Neramillai) – A. R. Rahman | Vivek | Dhee, A. R. Rahman
14 Mullai Vaasam (Thirukkural) – Ilaiyaraaja | Ilaiyaraaja | Ranjani
13 Mugilin Meley (Vanangaan) – G. V. Prakash Kumar | Selvamira | Saindhavi
12 Monica (Coolie) – Anirudh Ravichander | Vishnu Edavan, Asal Kolaar | Sublahshini, Anirudh Ravichander, Asal Kolaar
11 Kanimaa (Retro) – Santhosh Narayanan | Vivek | Santhosh Narayanan, The Indian Choral Ensemble
10 Muttha Mazhai (Thug Life) – A. R. Rahman | Siva Ananth | Chinmayi Sripada/Dhee
9 Oorum Blood (Dude) – Sai Abhyankkar | Paal Dabba | Sai Abhyankkar, Deepthi Suresh, Bhumi
8 Kalloorum (Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2) – G. V. Prakash Kumar | Vivek | Haricharan, Shweta Mohan
7 Iragey (Tourist Family) – Sean Roldan | Mohan Rajan | Vijay Yesudas
6 Please Yenna (Bad Girl) – Amit Trivedi | Kaber Vasuki | Maalavika Manoj
5 Edharkkaaga Marubadi (Retro) – Santhosh Narayanan | Vivek | Punya Selva/Ananthu
4 Oru Kana (3BHK) – Amrit Ramnath | Sri Ganesh | Haricharan
3 Cheenikkallu (Bison Kaalamaadan) – Nivas K. Prasanna | Mari Selvaraj | Chinmayi Sripada, Vijay Yesudas
2 Vazhithunaiye (Dragon) – Leon James | Vignesh Shivan | Sid Sriram, Sanjana Kalmanje
1 Anju Vanna Poove (Thug Life) – A. R. Rahman | Karthik Netha | Charulatha Mani/A R Rahman
Indian Indie/Pop
Playlists: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
As always, this section only constitutes my picks from the indie and pop stuff I managed to listen to this year. And among those, the most formidable work came from Nishad G with his debut album Life Until 23 (another work I really wanted to review but couldn’t manage to). Have seen him provide deep insights into a lot of compositions over the years from his Indoencers account, and have marvelled at the level of knowledge he possesses at such a young age, so this album turning out this good wasn’t really a surprise. It was also nice to see Agam come out with another album after a long gap. Two of my favourite Malayalam composers, who did not have any movie projects this year – Vidyasagar and Sushin Shyam – surprised with non-film releases this year. Vidyasagar’s song seems to be part of an album, so I look forward the rest of it coming out in 2026.
30 Nindiya – Akash Tripathi, Ramil Ganjoo, Vidhya Gopal
29 Mukilpoovin (Adobe Abode) – Vidyasagar, Jasim Jamal, Rakshita Suresh, Vimosh Venugopal
28 United by Hip Hop – Paal Dabba, Reble, vichaar, 99side
27 Yeno Indru (Think Indie) – Rakhooo, Anand Kashinath, Vaisagh
26 Zindagi – Bhoomika Yellow B, Dheeraj Banerjea
25 Tere Siva Re (In Case We Forget) – The Yellow Diary, Lisa Mishra
24 Suno Dil Ki (Khud Ko Miloon) – Taba Chake
23 Dobara – Arjun Kanungo, Akbar Wasif
22 Mirza – Neeti Mohan, Adarsh Rao
21 Ve Mundeya – Tesher, Jonita Gandhi
20 Vizhi Veekura (Think Indie) – Sai Abhyankkar, Sai Smriti
19 Jogiya (Bhoomi 2025) – Salim-Sulaiman, Sonu Nigam, Paradox, Shraddha Pandit
18 Adhoori – Kutcheri, Varijashree Venugopal
17 Naranga Paal – Gabri, Hrishi
16 Yen Ithanai (Life Until 23) – Nishad G, Vijaynarain, Rishi K.
15 Ab Chhalakte Hue (Bhoomi 2025) – Prithvi Gandharv, Hariharan, Salim-Sulaiman, Ali Ahmad Jalili
14 Samandar – Santanu Ghatak, Nilanjan Samadder
13 Dil Ka Pata – Masala Coffee
12 Vidiyal – Sreekanth Hariharan
11 Ray – Sushin Shyam, Vinayak Sasikumar
10 Karmi (Umoja) – Shanka Tribe, Neha S. Nair
9 Talafi (Na Gul Na Gulistan) – Parvaaz
8 Azaa (Nayi Baat) – Faridkot, Himani Kapoor
7 Sapphire (Play) – Ed Sheeran, Arijit Singh
6 Konjamachum – Vijaynarain, Priyanka NK, Super Subu
5 Kagaz – Garvit-Priyansh
4 Sunset Prayers (Life Until 23) – Nishad G, Mohini Dey, Patrick Bartley
3 Sivanar – Sid Sriram
2 Saadho (Sabr) – The Anirudh Varma Collective, Pavithra Chari
1 The Silence that Remains (Arrival of the Ethereal) – Agam
