Baramulla is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language supernatural horror thriller film directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale and produced under Jio Studios and B62 Studios. It stars Manav Kaul[1] and Bhasha Sumbli in the lead roles.[2] The film was released on 7 November 2025 on Netflix.[3][4][5] It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics with praise for the performances and cinematography but criticism for the story and screenplay.[6]
In Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir, a young boy named Shoaib mysteriously disappears during a magician’s performance, prompting the newly transferred DSP from Reasi, Ridwaan Sayyed, to take charge of the investigation. He arrives with his wife, Gulnaar and their children, Ayaan and Noorie, with whom Ridwaan has a strained relationship. The family moves into an old villa cared for by a mute attendant, Iqbal.
A year earlier in Reasi, Noorie and some of her schoolmates were taken hostage by terrorists in her school. While rescuing the children, Ridwaan accidentally shot a classmate of Noorie's in front of her while shooting at a terrorist, emotionally scarring her against her father.
While Ridwaan suspects the magician is innocent, a series of strange events unsettle the family: Ayaan discovers a box of sea shells and encounters a mysterious childlike presence, Noorie senses a dog in the house despite her severe allergy and notices Iqbal taking a plate of food to the attic, and Gulnaar notices unexplained disturbances in the villa. Moreover, Ridwaan’s arrival is greeted with the hostility of the locals who write the word 'kafir' (infidel) on the wall of his villa, deeply upsetting the family, especially Noorie. Another local boy, Faisal, soon vanishes under similar circumstances. Similar disappearances had happened before but went unpublicised. As hostility from local townspeople grows, Ridwaan investigates Shoaib’s school and meets the principal, Zainab. Noorie, struggling to adjust, befriends a local boy named Khalid. After various incidents, Noorie herself disappears under supernatural circumstances.
Ridwaan traces Khalid after learning of Khalid's involvement with Noorie and learns of his preaching religious extremism to local children, as well as that Khalid had convinced Noorie to join the militants prior to her disappearance. Ridwaan and his team capture Khalid and from him learn of an underground operational network funded by the ISI that recruits and brain-washes local children for militant training in Pakistan. The group’s unseen leader "Bhaijaan", and area commander, Juneid, oversee the operation. However, Khalid reveals the children were abducted by unknown forces before they could be transported, a fact the militants blamed on the police.
Meanwhile, Gulnaar discovers signs the villa once belonged to a Kashmiri Pandit family. Guided by a female apparition wearing dejhoor, she is shown a hidden room filled with Shaivite symbols and eventually a spectral dimension where the missing children are being protected "from the poison which has been filled in their brain and heart". Gulnaar tells Ridwaan about her findings but Ridwaan remains skeptical and unconvinced due to which Gulnaar informs him of the next kid to be abducted by the entities for protection, Yassir, Juneid’s nephew, which she learned in the spectral dimension.
Ridwaan goes to stop Yassir being trafficked to Pakistan and shoots the smuggler. Yassir picks up the smuggler’s rifle to shoot Ridwaan who tries convincing him to surrender. The shadowy entities then arrive and abduct Yassir right in front of Ridwaan, finally convincing him of the supernatural involvement. At night, Ridwaan arrives at his villa and attends the ritual of offering food with Gulnaar and Iqbal in the attic. During this, through Ayaan, who is briefly possessed by a girl named Eela Sapru, the family learns the villa’s former occupants, the Saprus, were massacred by militants decades earlier after being betrayed. The spirits of the murdered family, including their dog, now intervene to save children from radicalisation. During this time, Zainab arrives in the villa with police officers after receiving a death threat.
Suddenly, Juneid and his militants attack the villa, triggering a confrontation during which, Ridwaan and Gulnaar witness the Sapru family’s final moments. They see Dr. Kamlanand Sapru, his wife Mansi Sapru, their daughter Eela Sapru and their caretaker, then young Iqbal, were all at home. Kamlanand Sapru was anxious for his elder son, Sharad Sapru, who had not arrived at home. The family was preparing to leave to escape the brutal militant attack of that time, but since Sharad had not arrived they were waiting. Iqbal was trying to convince them to leave. But suddenly a group of militants arrived. Iqbal tries to stop them but the militants cut off his tongue as a punishment for helping the 'kafirs'. They kill Dr. Kamlanand and began searching for his family who were hiding in the house. During this time, they kill the family’s pet dog. Mansi and Eela managed to hide, but a local Muslim girl who was Eela’s friend betrayed them by yelling and informing the militants of their location. The militants brutally killed Mansi in their bedroom and killed Eela in the altar room.
In the present day, in the ensuing fight, Iqbal is killed, Gulnaar becomes possessed by Mansi Sapru, and the vengeful spirits aid in repelling the militants. Juneid tries to escape by holding Zainab as hostage, but a possessed Gulnaar shoots Zainab and Ridwaan kills Juneid. He discovers “Bhaijaan” is none other than Zainab, who had also betrayed the Sapru family in the past. The missing children, including Noorie, are returned. The Sayyed family reconciles, and before leaving the villa, Gulnaar offers food to the Sapru spirits as a sign of respect. A final dedication honours the Kashmiri Pandit community. Six months later, the Sayyeds visit Dr. Sharad Sapru, the Sapru family’s sole surviving heir, and Ayaan returns Eela’s seashell box to him.
Sanjay Suri as Sharad Sapru, Kamlanad Sapru's son (cameo appearance)
Release
The official trailer was unveiled on 30 October 2025.[7]Baramulla was released on Netflix on 7 November 2025.[8][9]
Reception
Radhika Sharma of NDTV gave it 2.5 stars out of 5 and said "Sad, cold and haunted. One sees Kashmir in a very different light in Baramulla."[10] Mayur Sanap of Rediff.com awarded 3 stars out of 5 and said "The supernatural-mystery stuff is well balanced with Baramulla's more grounded, socially realistic elements, making it one of the most unique and creatively well-realized Hindi films."[11] Rahul Desai of The Hollywood Reporter India writes in his review that "Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s film infuses partisan politics with supernatural horror — and the result is complicated."[12] Johnny Loftus of Decider rated the movie worth a watch and said "The soundtrack amplifies each side of this film, its reaches for the supernaturally strange and the fraught local history that informs Ridwaan’s work to solve the kidnappings."[13]
Anuj Kumar of The Hindu observed "Director Aditya Suhas Jambhale gets the mood, the atmospherics, and the suspense right, but when the fog subsides, the bombast of the ‘us vs them’ narrative becomes discernible."[14] Vineeta Kumar of India Today rated it 3.5/5 stars and said "Manav Kaul delivers one of his most haunting performances yet in 'Baramulla', a Netflix film that finds horror not in ghosts but in grief, memory, and the pain of exile. A chilling reflection on loss and belonging in the Kashmir Valley."[15] Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost rated it 2/5 stars and said "Netflix’s ‘Baramulla’ is a brilliant topic that should have been told in a better and convincing way."[16]
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express also gave it 2 stars out of 5 and said "The film unravels in the way it tries to mix its allegorical elements with inconsistent plot-points which include terrorists-from-sarhad-paar involved with ‘farming’ innocents: too much obviousness takes away from the delicacy of the rest of it."[17] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in observed "The good-looking movie extracts as much eeriness as possible from the snow-covered landscape and traditional wooden houses. After dithering about for far too long, Baramulla finally snaps into shape in the extended climax, pulling off the mask of horror to reveal … bared teeth."[18]Bollywood Hungama gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 and said "On the whole, 'Baramulla' is a rare, one-of-its-kind film that fuses supernatural elements with the socio-political reality of Kashmir in a deeply impactful way."[19]
Abhishek Srivastava of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and opined "The film succeeds in mood and atmosphere, delivering a world that feels both real and unsettling. Yet, it falls short of the emotional and narrative depth it aspires to."[20] Rishabh Suri of Hindustan Times rated the film 3 out of 5 and remarked "It’s not without its imperfections, but it’s atmospheric cinema done with intent."[21] Ajaz Rashid of Kashmir Times said "This film is remembrance, clothed in cinema. If Doctor Zhivago spoke for exiles, Baramulla is the voice of those who never had a choice."[22] Jose Solis of Common Sense Media rated the film 2 out of 5 stars and stated "What begins as a stylish thriller turns into a tangled hybrid of social drama, crime story, and horror, until it collapses under the weight of its own ambitions."[23]
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