Mumbai: Instagram has released its 2025 Year-in-Review for India, highlighting the trends, cultural moments, and personalities that dominated the platform over the year. The report underscores how Indian culture went global, cricket continued to captivate audiences, nostalgia shaped feeds, and viral micro-moments kept users engaged throughout the year.
Cricket reaffirmed its central role in Indian pop culture, driving major conversations on Instagram. Key highlights included India’s Champions Trophy win, RCB’s viral chant “Ee Sala Cup Namdu,” Virat Kohli’s emotional retirement from Test cricket, and the Indian women’s cricket team’s World Cup victory.
The report also reflected India’s cultural crossover with the world. Highlights included Hanumankind’s performance at Coachella, Shah Rukh Khan, Kiara Advani, and Diljit Dosanjh attending the Met Gala, the global embrace of Indian Kolhapuri chappals, and A.R. Rahman’s tracks featured on international runways. Conversely, global moments resonated strongly with Indians, from Ed Sheeran’s India tour and Taylor Swift’s engagement to Cristiano Ronaldo’s updates, generating massive engagement.
Nostalgia and aesthetics continued to shape feeds, with fandoms growing around films like Wake Up Sid, characters such as Bunny from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, and songs like “Nadaan Parinde” and “Shehar Mein” from Rockstar. The lo-fi digi-cam aesthetic also gained traction across reels and carousels, especially among Gen Z and young adults.
Instagram also spotlighted individuals who captured the platform’s imagination, including a girl resembling the Mona Lisa at Mahakumbh, Ayush, who mispronounced “croissant” as “Prashant,” Sonali, the mehendi artist recreating Rihanna’s wedding makeup look, and Sudhanshu Shukla, the first Indian in 40 years to travel to the International Space Station. Popular personalities such as Samay Raina and the show India’s Got Latent kept conversations buzzing all year.
Micro-moments also drove engagement, with viral trends including actor Veer Pahariya’s ‘langdi’ hook step, debates over the 90-hour work week, snippets from Shark Tank India 4, the Coldplay concert viral moment, fake wedding parties, the Labubus fascination, the glowing turmeric trend, Parineeti Chopra’s “meri body main sensations” dialogue from Hasee Toh Phasee, the “Vishal Mega Mart” meme, and the popularity of 5120×1080 ultra-wide thin reels.
Instagram’s 2025 Year-in-Review shows a year defined by global cultural exchange, continuous engagement, and the diverse micro-moments that kept India scrolling and sharing throughout 2025.
