Entertainment has stopped being something people merely watch and has become something they participate in. A film scene, a song lyric, or even a few awkward seconds on a concert screen could instantly turn into a meme, a reel trend, or a cultural reference point. Indian cinema and shows were at the heart of this shift, producing some of the year’s most dominant viral moments, while global pop culture fed the same ecosystem.
Dhurandhar: Life as a spy
One of the biggest contributors was the Bollywood action film Dhurandhar, which became a meme factory almost overnight. Ranveer Singh’s entry sequence sparked the wildly popular ‘First Day as a Spy’ trend, where creators humorously imagined Indian spies failing missions due to desi habits. Clips were endlessly remixed with jokes, voiceovers, and reaction edits, turning espionage into satire. Alongside this, the film’s music and visuals found a second life online, spreading far beyond traditional film promotion.
Akshaye Khanna’s improvised FA9LA dance
At the centre of Dhurandhar’s viral afterlife was Akshaye Khanna’s unexpected dance moment, which grew into one of the defining internet trends of the year. His improvised moves in the FA9LA sequence inspired thousands of reels and short videos across Instagram and TikTok, recreated by fans, celebrities, office groups, families, and even sports personalities. The raw spontaneity of the dance, paired with the infectious rhythm and drama of the song, made it endlessly remixable.
Ram Charan’s Peddi Dance
One of the biggest contributors to this loop culture was the Peddi dance from the upcoming entertainer Peddi. Unlike hyper-polished choreography, this step was deliberately raw, grounded, and almost defiant, made viral by Ram Charan. The Chikiri Chikiri song’s promo was released in November 2025. What made it explode online was how easily it translated across identities: college students did it in hostels, athletes recreated it on fields, and even office workers filmed tongue-in-cheek versions in parking lots.
Coldplay Kiss cam scandal
One of 2025’s most viral real-world moments wasn’t in a movie. It happened at a Coldplay concert in Boston when the band’s kiss cam unexpectedly became the centrepiece of a scandal. During the show, the stadium camera focused on a couple who didn’t react like typical concertgoers: instead of smiling or waving, they recoiled and tried to hide once their faces appeared on the big screen.
Frontman Chris Martin even joked, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” and the clip quickly spread across social media, drawing millions of views. Investigative sleuths on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok identified the pair as Andy Byron, then CEO of the tech firm Astronomer, and Kristin Cabot, the company’s Chief People Officer, both reportedly married to other people at the time. The incident ignited intense online debate about privacy, workplace relationships, and public judgment, and led to both executives stepping down from their roles amid the controversy.
Ghiblification: AI, art, and cultural unease
But 2025 wasn’t only about joy. It was also a year of cultural unease, especially with the rise of AI-generated art trends. One of the most debated topics was ‘Ghiblification’, the transformation of regular images and memes into Studio Ghibli–style illustrations using AI tools. At first, it seemed harmless, even charming. But criticism grew fast.
Hayao Miyazaki, who has long spoken against the soullessness of algorithmic art, resurfaced in discussions as a moral anchor. Creators asked uncomfortable questions: Is this tribute or theft? Can decades of hand-drawn emotion be replicated in seconds without hollowing it out? Ghiblification became a symbol of a larger fear that creativity itself was being flattened, aestheticised, and mass-produced, stripped of labour, intention, and soul.
Arjun Kapoor’s ‘Tune bola’ meme
In a surprising twist of internet life, Arjun Kapoor became one of India’s most searched meme subjects of 2025. A brief clip from a 2017 press conference for Half Girlfriend, where a journalist’s casual comment prompted Arjun to turn sharply and ask, “Tune bola (You spoke)?” resurfaced mid-year and exploded across social media, becoming Google’s top trending meme of 2025 in India.
What started as a subtle expression of irritation was remixed into countless GIFs, reels, and reaction images, with meme pages pairing the clip with dramatic music (Dus Don by Dada Sadhu) and humorous captions. The crescendo of online attention even led Arjun to disable comments on his Instagram as the meme frenzy spilt into unrelated posts. Far from fading, the trend became so pervasive that Arju later leaned into the joke, starring in a light-hearted commercial that riffed on his now-infamous “angry resting face.”
Soubin Shahir’s Monica dance
One of 2025’s most unexpectedly popular dance memes came from the song Monica, the second single from the Tamil film Coolie, starring Rajinikanth. Released as part of the film’s promotion in July 2025, Monica was composed by Anirudh Ravichander.
Although the music video featured Pooja Hegde’s energetic choreography, it was Malayalam actor-director Soubin Shahir’s spirited and joyful performance that captured the internet’s imagination. Decked out in simple attire, Soubin’s unexpected dance steps, equal parts enthusiastic and delightfully unpolished, went viral across reels, TikTok-style videos, and meme threads, turning him into a breakout online sensation.
Jon Hamm eyes-closed dance
Not all viral moments came from India, and yet, the internet made them feel universal. In 2025, a clip of Jon Hamm dancing with his eyes closed from Apple TV+’s Your Friends & Neighbors resurfaced and spread like wildfire. The appeal was immediate: confident, joyful, slightly awkward, and deeply human.
Indian meme pages embraced it wholeheartedly. Soon, the format evolved, with cats basking in sunlight with eyes closed, then cutting to Hamm dancing; people swaying in their rooms after a long day, followed by the clip. The meme became a metaphor for unbothered living. You don’t need perfection, rhythm, or validation, just the freedom to enjoy the moment.
