Not Saiyaara or Dhurandhar, Imtiaz Ali thinks this film which made less than ₹2 crore is one of the best of 2025

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali took to his Instagram and kicked off 2026 by recommending one of his favourite movies of 2025. And it's not Saiyaara or Dhurandhar.

2025 was a great year for Hindi cinema, with romantic dramas like Saiyaara, action films like Dhurandhar, and historic war films like Chhaava becoming some of the highest-grossing films of the year. However, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s top pick of the year is a film that achieved dismal box office numbers despite being helmed by a prolific filmmaker.

Imtiaz Ali picked one of his favourites from 2025 and the answer might surprise you.

Imtiaz Ali’s pick for 2025 is Nishaanchi

Imtiaz took to his Instagram stories to call Anurag Kashyap’s Nishaanchi one of the best films of 2025. Sharing a poster of the film, he recommended fans to watch both parts of the film in one go, “One of the best of last year!!! Don’t miss Nishaanchi part 1 & 2 (must watch together) now on Prime Video.”

Anurag re-posted his review of the film on his Instagram stories, as did debutant actor Aaishvary Thackeray, who wrote, “@imtiazaliofficial sir (red heart emoji).”

Imtiaz Ali was all praise for Anurag Kashyap's Nishaanchi.

About Nishaanchi

Nishaanchi is a crime drama directed by Anurag Kashyap and produced by Ajay Rai, Vipin Agnihotri and Ranjan Singh under JAR Pictures, in association with Flip Films. Aaishvary Thackeray plays dual roles in his debut, alongside Vedika Pinto, Monika Panwar, Kumud Mishra, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, and Vineet Kumar Singh.

It tells the story of twin brothers who become entangled in the world of crime. According to Sacnilk, Nishaanchi made ₹1.55 crore worldwide in its lifetime. The film received positive reviews after its release in September 2025, and its sequel, Nishaanchi 2, was subsequently released directly on Amazon Prime Video, given the success of the first film at the box office.

Imtiaz has teamed up with Diljit Dosanjh again for a film, following their collaboration on Amar Singh Chamkila, and it is set for release this year. Anurag has directed Bobby Deol-starrer Bandar, which has yet to be released, and will debut in Telugu as an actor with Adivi Sesh-starrer Dacoit. He will also star in the Tamil film One 2 One.