This article offers a thorough and thematic review of the academic literature surrounding the performance of Indian commercial banks over nearly two decades, from 2000 to 2020. It brings together empirical findings from more than 40 published studies, exploring various aspects of bank performance such as financial efficiency, factors influencing profitability, asset quality, capital adequacy, corporate governance, and the effects of regulatory reforms. The literature is organized into five key themes: (i) ratio-based CAMEL/CAMELS analyses, (ii) efficiency measurement through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), (iii) profitability determinants using panel data methods, (iv) the NPA crisis and its effects on bank performance, and (v) governance and ownership structure. The review highlights important research gaps and suggests avenues for future exploration. The findings from the studies consistently show that private sector banks tend to outperform public sector banks in most performance areas, that the NPA crisis from 2015 to 2018 posed the most significant threat to the stability of Indian banking, and that macroeconomic factors-especially GDP growth-are crucial in influencing bank-level profitability outcomes.