Netflix’s latest Hindi original, ‘Baramulla’, starring Manav Kaul, is not your typical horror thriller filled with jump scares or supernatural tricks. Instead, it is an unsettling meditation on loss, displacement, and memory a story that lingers long after the credits roll.
A Story Rooted in Fear, Memory, and Exile
Set in Baramulla, Kashmir, the film follows DSP Ridwaan Sayyed (Manav Kaul), a tough police officer investigating a series of mysterious child disappearances. The only clues? Strands of scissor-cut hair left behind eerie reminders of something deeply wrong.
As Ridwaan digs deeper, the investigation slowly shifts from a police procedural to a haunting journey into Kashmir’s unhealed past. The horror here isn’t about ghosts or shadows it’s about identity lost, homes abandoned, and wounds that history refuses to close.
Baramulla builds dread not from the supernatural, but from memory itself,” notes the narrative, which begins as a thriller but transforms into something far more intimate and painful a reflection on grief, exile, and survival.
Manav Kaul Delivers a Career-Defining Performance
Manav Kaul is magnetic as Ridwaan a cop burdened by guilt, a father clinging to love, and a man questioning his own faith in justice. His performance is raw yet restrained, carrying emotional weight without theatrics.
His tender scenes with his teenage daughter are among the film’s most moving moments. You can’t help but feel that Kaul’s portrayal deserves a theatrical canvas it’s layered, powerful, and deeply human.
Bhasha Sumbli Shines as the Silent Strength
Bhasha Sumbli (of The Kashmir Files fame) delivers a nuanced performance as Ridwaan’s wife. Torn between silence and storm, she personifies quiet anguish the unspoken grief of a woman watching her family and homeland slip away. Her restrained emotion adds gravitas to every scene she appears in.
A Haunting Climax That Stays With You
The film’s climax is where Baramulla truly soars emotionally devastating and historically charged. The story evokes the Kashmiri Pandit exodus of the early 1990s, portraying it not as spectacle but as a soul-deep tragedy. Kaul turns this moment into a cinematic prayer for memory, peace, and justice.
Minor Flaws, Major Impact
The first half of Baramulla moves at an uneven pace, with a few unnecessary “scare” sequences that momentarily dilute its emotional impact. But once the film finds its rhythm, it becomes gripping, poetic, and profoundly moving.
With Baramulla, Netflix delivers one of its most powerful Hindi originals in recent memory a film that haunts without horror and heals without sentimentality. It’s a reminder that the deepest fears often come not from what we see, but from what we remember.