It has been a year of big debuts. While their PR had ensured a media frenzy around their releases, celeb kids like Aaman Devgan, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Rasha Thadani, and Veer Pahariya’s maiden outings were far from impressive. Among the stars, while the year saw Akshay Kumar somewhat get his groove and comic timing back, others like Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Ajay Devgn, John Abraham, Emraan Hashmi, Sanjay Dutt, mostly stuck to their personal brand of star-power buoyed mediocrity.
On the other hand, the trained actors—the quintessential outsiders who had established themselves in Bollywood through their sheer talent—have not managed to pull any surprises either. The 2025 releases of Rajkummar Rao (Bhool Chuk Maaf), Pankaj Tripathi (Criminal Justice: A Family Matter), and Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Costao) have not given us anything fresh. And the problem lies in the fact that in this country a good actor is often considered versatile by default. While the Manoj Bajpayee of The Family Man and Gulmohar or the Irrfan Khan of Maqbool and The Namesake or even a Vicky Kaushal of Sam Bahadur and Chaava are distinctly different, the same can't be said for these film school graduates—the characters portrayed by them these days seem just a different version of the same.
But beyond the mainstream fanfare and at times even beyond the glory of a ‘starring role’, the year has seen some seriously impressive performances on the OTT. Here are 6 such acts:
Abhishek Banerjee in Stolen
Where to watch: Prime Video
Based on true events, Karan Tejpal's debut directorial, Stolen, is a gritty and unpredictable edge-of-the-seat thriller that traces a mother's desperate quest to find her kidnapped infant daughter. She finds two unlikely allies in Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Ram (Shubham Vardhan), two estranged brothers. The first is a practical guy who doesn’t want to get involved and the other the righteous one, who sees this as an opportunity to play the saviour of the downtrodden. An uneasy watch, it is a story of trust, betrayal, conviction, and evolving relationship dynamics that also doubles up as a taut social commentary. As Gautam, Abhishek Banerjee is powerful yet restrained, and the character arc becomes a perfect vehicle to showcase his versatility as an actor. The character starts off as a well-put together, slightly arrogant urban guy hailing from the upper echelon who lives in his own comfortable world indifferent to the plight of the less privileged. But as the chaos escalates, he finds himself slowly losing the plot—he feels trapped and helpless. It is a baptism by fire, and by the end of it he finds his heart and becomes an accidental hero. According to Abhishek, the core of the character is a society where we can't trust each other. “No matter how much we get involved in the armchair revolution by posting on social media, when facing a real crisis, can we step up? How far are we willing to go? There is a line in the movie where Gautam says: “Mujhe kya?”. That is the real catalyst for the character,” says the actor. But playing Gautam had its share of challenges and for Abhishek, the most difficult one was doing the stunts by himself. “I had to drive the car in that terrain keeping in mind the camera and the crowd during the action sequences—that was quite scary but also fun.”
Avinash Tiwari in Mehta Boys
Where to watch: Prime Video
Boman Irani’s assured directorial debut, co-written by Alexander Dinelaris (of Birdman fame), which captures 48 hours of a feuding father-son duo navigating through their strained relationship, saw Avinash Tiwary [who plays the son, Amay] belt out yet another nuanced performance. His understated portrayal of Amay’s emotional turmoil as he struggles to deal with his father, often accentuated brilliantly through closeups, was the highlight of this poignant, if a tad Baghban -coded, father-son drama. “He is a boy who just couldn't become a man, he could not take on the responsibilities of life, his is not an authoritative personality, there is a lack of self-worth. And all these qualities have something to do with his relationship with his father,” says Avinash, who found Amay Mehta’s vulnerability relatable. “Upon reading the script I knew that I had to make every moment of the movie feel real. As an actor, my note to self was to ensure that there is no unnecessary projection or performance while portraying his vulnerability.
The biggest challenge was to constantly find his thoughts in his silences—he is not someone who is comfortable in expressing himself, especially in his relationships, be it with his father or with his girlfriend. While reading the script, I realised that it is not what is being said but what is left out that needs to reach the audience. The effort was to make it all look effortless,” he explains adding that Amay Mehta is one of my most controlled performances. “It is a performance that that is more real than most of the work I have done so far.”
Monika Panwar in Khauf
Where to watch: Prime Video
Prime Video’s Khauf, the eight-episode slow-burn horror series created and written by Smita Sen and directed by Pankaj Kumar, is stylish, atmospheric, and layered, replete with powerful performances with Monika Panwar’s turn as Madhuri being the centrepiece.
Madhuri Kiran, a young woman shifts into a working women's hostel. A sexual abuse survivor, she has just relocated to Delhi from Gwalior to heal from the psychological trauma the horrific incident has left behind and make a fresh start. “She knows her weaknesses very well and uses that to find her strengths. When she comes to this gigantic city, she is underconfident and vulnerable. But she keeps moving forward, overcoming one hurdle at a time. Her resilience really impressed me. Also, the way she confronts her trauma, stands up for herself, and tries to come out of it is commendable,” says Monika.
But there is something eerie about her hostel room and the other women staying on the same floor. Soon, she hears rumours of a supernatural presence. As the psychological stress mounts, Madhuri’s declining mental health declines further. Then begins the possessions. Monika excels as a vulnerable girl trying to rebuild herself in a big and unknown city; then during her ‘possession’ she masterfully uses her body as a tool, contorting her limbs and tilting her face, and totally hits it out of the park. “I was very intrigued with the possessed part. But for me, the challenge was to make a smooth transition from the normal Madhu to her possessed version. When it comes to the supernatural, we don't know what it is. It was my conscious decision to, to keep that ambiguity so that the audience are at tenterhooks—in some scenes Madhu seems to be clearly possessed, but then in some one is not sure,” says Monika, who brings in a lived-in energy and gets the tricky balance of vulnerability and strength spot-on.
Anurag Thakur in Black Warrant
Where to watch: Netflix
Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh’s prison drama series, based on the non-fiction book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer, is undoubtedly among the most well-crafted shows we have seen in India in recent times. Also serving as a coming-of-age story of Sunil Kumar Gupta, a rookie jailer trying to navigate his way around one of India’s largest and most infamous jails, it provides poignant vignettes into the life within the prison walls replete with corruption, violence, injustice, and bonhomie. The show is replete with powerful performances, but the surprise act was that of Anurag Thakur.
The English graduate from Bihar hit it out of the park by magically transforming into the uncouth and hot-headed Haryanvi jailer, Vipin Dahiya—his Haryanvi accent and body language spot on. “The biggest challenge was to get the accent and the attitude right. I had to get myself to believe that that is my language and that is how I talk…that took a bit of time,” he says. But ask him how much time it took him to find the comfort of a mother tongue in a totally new language, and he quips: “About five days!” And he did that without a formal accent coach. “My friend Sanjeev Yadav helped me. He used to talk, and I used to listen,” he chortles.
Dahiya is unapologetically brash, often repulsive and even cringeworthy, but the absolute lack of malice behind his actions makes it difficult to hate this man-child. Anurag’s portrayal of him not only hits all the sweet spots but his lecherous grin tinged with a strange childlike innocence makes one go ‘awww’! “For me the core of the character was a ten-year-old innocent kid who is excited and curious to see the world—he wants to explore everything and have fun!” says Anurag, adding that the director had explained Dahiya as a child in an amusement park—he wants to jump around and try out all the rides. “He can get miffed at minor inconveniences and let serious issues just pass without even reacting. Kuchh log hotey hain jinhe cheentiyan marne ka shau hota hai, unhe bas marne mein mazaa aata hai [some people like to kill ants for the heck of it, the find it fun], this guy has a similar mental state.”
Amol Parashar in Gram Chikitsalay
Where to watch: Prime Video
Set in rural India, Gram Chikitsalay is a no-frills all-heart show laced with humour, which sees an idealistic young doctor, Dr Prabhat Sinha, arrive at a remote north Indian village to take charge of its under-resourced primary health centre. As he attempts to bring in positive changes while trying to spread awareness about the healthcare system, he himself finds himself evolving as a person. Although it has a distinct Panchayat hangover, Amol Parashar’s earnest performance as Dr Prabhat makes you care the character and eventually gets you engaged. “At the core of Prabhat is purity of intention. I viewed him almost like a superhero, because to be absolutely selfless in a muddy world, is nothing less than a superpower. Having a non-negotiable moral compass, having a spine, and taking a stand come naturally to him. He doesn’t even do it for anyone else, or for any accolades, he is just being true to himself,” says Amol.
According to him, he wanted to make sure that he imbibes the idealism internally—he does it because that’s who he is, and he doesn’t have to think twice about it. “I wanted him to never cross a line where it seems like he is proud of his idealism; I didn’t want his idealism to be performative. Just like in life, even an actor runs the risk of getting carried away by the heroism of such characters. Keeping the flame of idealism and heroism alive in every frame, but never letting it jump out of you in an obvious manner was a challenge but also a learning. It’s almost like walking around with glass full of water to the brim but making sure it never spills out,” explains the actor.
Ritwik Bhowmik in Khakee: The Bengal Chapter
Where to watch: Netflix
Netflix's Khakee: The Bengal Chapter, Neeraj Pandey’s gritty crime thriller series, set in the dark underbelly of Kolkata, is a tale where crime, corruption and politics face off with law. Among the motley cast of mostly Bengali actors, including superstars Prosenjit and Jeet, was Ritwik Bhowmik. He plays Sagor Talukdar, the trigger-happy right-hand man of the dreaded gangster, Bagha. Sagor, eventually along with bestie and gangmate Ranjit, overthrows Bagha, to rise through the ranks. But then a sudden personal loss changes all equations. Ritwik not only held on his own in a show packed with powerhouse actors, but his performance as Sagor received applause from the audience and the critics alike. Earlier, seen in Bandish Bandits as the lovable Hindustani classical musician, Radhe, Ritwik’s turn as ruthless gangster, Sagor was a makeover nobody anticipated—with his voice modulation, body language, and mannerisms, one can’t discern even an ounce of Radhe spill into Sagor establishing his chameleon potentials as an actor.
Talking about the challenges, he says, “I think all the parts that I've played so far have been challenging in one way or the other. In Khakee I had to get the right physicality of the character. There were also a lot of action sequences which required agility. But since I have been a dancer and done a lot of physical activities throughout my life, it wasn’t that difficult a thing. Also, I had to put on weight, which was a bit of a challenge, but the toughest part was to deep dive into the emotions of the character.”
Once he finished reading the script, he sat with the directors who explained to me the treatment of the show: “They wanted the fictional character to embody non-fictional emotions. They wanted me to deep dive into my own pain and anger for this character. So, there was a lot of soul searching to find the best way to play Sagor,” he elaborates pointing out that the core of the character was his ambition. “It begins with absolute ambition, then after a personal loss turns into revenge…which was also him being somewhere ambitious.”
