YearEnder 2025: Remembering The Icons We Lost In 2025

While the New Year brings with it a lot of hope, the year gone by makes our hearts heavy as we mourn the loss of icons. In 2025, the Indian film industry lost several of its gems. From acclaimed actors to popular singers, ‘Millennium Post’ pays tribute to the stars we lost this year.

Dharmendra: Legendary actor Dharmendra hadn’t been keeping well and was in and out of the hospital throughout November 2025. However, on November 24, 2025, the ‘He-Man’ of Bollywood breathed his last at the age of 89, just a few days before turning 90. He earned several monikers like ‘He-Man’, ‘Garam Dharam’ and ‘Action King’, but at heart he was one of the gentlest actors of Indian cinema. The icon went far beyond his muscular, rugged good looks with films like ‘Satyakam’, ‘Chupke Chupke’ and ‘Sholay’. Just as action came naturally to this macho hero, so did romance and comedy. His last film, Sriram Raghavan’s ‘Ikkis’, set to hit theatres in January, will be his posthumous release.

Kamini Kaushal: To many, this name might not instantly ring a bell, but her entry into films will forever be etched into history. In 1946, Kamini made her debut in Chetan Anand’s ‘Neecha Nagar’, which went on to win the Palme d’Or.

An icon of the early Hindi film era, Kamini set an example and broke the glass ceiling in the 1940s and 1950s by continuing to work after marriage. Her onscreen chemistry with Dilip Kumar, especially in films like ‘Shaheed’ and ‘Nadiya Ke Paar’, became the talk of the town. In fact, in his biography, Dilip Kumar mentioned that she was the first woman he fell in love with. In the later phase of her career, she was remembered for films like ‘Chennai Express’, ‘Kabir Singh’ and ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’.

Satish Shah: For 1990s kids, Satish Shah will always be Indravadan Sarabhai, the ‘man’ of the Sarabhai household with a wacky sense of humour who troubled everyone, especially his wife (played by Ratna Pathak Shah), in the sitcom ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’.

And who can forget him as the ‘spitting professor’ in Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Main Hoon Na’. However, this celebrated actor also wowed audiences in films like ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai’ and the cult classic ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’, alongside his cheerful roles in ‘Om Shanti Om’, ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani’ and ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’. He passed away at the age of 74.

Asrani: “Hum angrezo ke zamane ke jailer hain,” Asrani had famously said as the Chaplin-esque jailer in ‘Sholay’.

Any other actor might have made the role caricaturish, but not Asrani. Even while acting alongside Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra, he held his own. A comedy actor par excellence, this FTII graduate also played definitive roles in middle-of-the-road cinema such as ‘Chupke Chupke’, ‘Satyakam’, ‘Guddi’, ‘Bawarchi’ and ‘Abhimaan’. He passed away on October 20 at the age of 84.

Zubeen Garg: There are singers remembered for their iconic songs. Then there is Zubeen Garg.

While his music touched hearts across borders, he was also a cultural icon of Assam. Traffic came to a standstill as the state came together to mourn his loss. Zubeen died under mysterious circumstances while swimming in the sea in Singapore on September 19, 2025. ‘Ya Ali’, ‘Dil Tu Hi Baata’ and ‘Mayabini’ are a few gems of this legendary singer. A cultural activist, he opposed communal politics, raised his voice against the Citizenship Amendment Act (Bill), transformed his Guwahati home into a COVID-19 care centre and consistently used his creative talent for social good. No wonder that when news of his death broke, even the Assam Chief Minister ordered a probe.

Manoj Kumar: There is a high chance you have sung ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’ at some point in your life. This timeless song from 'Upkar' remains a chartbuster, thanks to Manoj Kumar.

While patriotic films are common today, no one built a career around the genre as he did. Patriotism was his middle name and films like ‘Upkar’, ‘Purab Aur Pachhim’ and ‘Kranti’ made him synonymous with ‘Bharat’. In April 2025, he passed away at the age of 87 due to heart-related complications.

Mukul Dev: With his good looks and strong screen presence, Mukul Dev made his mark whenever he got the opportunity through films like ‘Kohram’, ‘Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena’, ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’, ‘Son of Sardaar’ and ‘R… Rajkumar’.

However, luck didn’t always favour him. On May 23, Mukul Dev passed away at the age of 54. His brother, Rahul Dev, later shared that he had stopped eating, felt lonely and had lost interest in life.

Pankaj Dheer: He is best remembered for portraying Karna in BR Chopra’s epic television series ‘Mahabharat’. It didn’t take long for Pankaj Dheer to become a household name and his photographs were often used as reference images for Karna.

He later gained popularity with shows like ‘Chandrakanta’ and ‘Zee Horror Show’. On October 15, he passed away at the age of 68 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Over a long career, he acted in several films, including ‘Sadak’, ‘Soldier’, ‘Baadshah’ and ‘Andaaz’.

Other Gems We Lost

• Piyush Pandey

• Sulakshana Pandit

• Shefali Jariwala

• Zarine Khan