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Till date, the serene land of Kashmir had only been synonymous with love, guns, war and terrorism. With Baramulla, one more element gets added- supernatural!

Title: Baramulla

Director: Aditya Suhas Jambhale

Cast: Manav Kaul, Bhasha Sumbli, Arista Mehta, Rohaan Singh, Aswini Koul, Shahid, Khurshid Mir

Where: Netflix

Rating: 4.5 stars

The film starts off with a magician’s performance in the picturesque area of Kashmir. When he invites the audience to be a part of ‘vanishing magic box’, a little kid Shoaib Ansari (Ahmad Ishaq) steps forward and agrees to get inside the magic box. Much to everyone’s (including the magician) surprise and shock, Shoaib does not vanish, but gets kidnapped… in broad daylight and under mysterious circumstances!

This then paves the entry of the investigating officer DSP Ridwaan Sayyed (Manav Kaul) who comes alongwith his wife Gulnaar Sayyed (Bhasha Sumbli) and their two kids Noorie Sayyed (Arista Mehta) and Ayaan Sayyed (Rohaan Singh). When they reach the allotted residence, they find everything in the house in a mess, which the ‘caretaker’ promises to take care of. But, with each passing day, the Sayyed family starts observing abnormal things in and around their house.

And when Gulnaar tries to explain these to Ridwaan, he does not pay heed to her words as he is already reeling under tremendous pressure to solve the child kidnapping case. He gets the shock of his life when he discovers that it's not just Shoaib Ansari, but there are many other children who have been kidnapped under mysterious circumstances. Amid all this, Ridwaan Sayyed realises that there are supernatural occurrences that threaten his family and Baramulla’s tranquility.

Does Ridwaan Sayyed be able to overpower the supernatural forces and successfully bring back the kidnapped children; who are the mastermind/s behind these kidnappings; what happens to Ridwaan and his family in the end is what forms the rest of the gripping film.

Baramulla Review: Actors' Performance

After such a long time, here is a film where ‘Script is truly the king’. Leading the gang of stellar actors is the ever dependable and ever reliable Manav Kaul, who looks totally convincing as a police officer of the Valleys. Being a seasoned actor, he takes to his role like a fish taking to water. Shouldering the responsibility of carrying a film of this stature is Bhasha Sumbli, who goes on to show the world the ‘dependable mettle’ she is made up of.

Then, there are the young artists Arista Mehta and Rohaan Singh, who can easily give a marathon run to many senior actors with their on-point performances. One really would like to applaud the film’s casting director (Casting Bay) for choosing such ace talents.

As far as the film’s direction is concerned, a huge round of applause doubled with a pat on the back to the film’s director Aditya Suhas Jambhale for not just venturing into a territory which no one had ever thought of, and also to do total justice at that! With this film, Aditya has successfully broken (read ‘shattered’) the image of Kashmir being synonymous with snow capped mountains, romance and terrorism. With Baramulla, he successfully adds one more element - supernatural! And boy! What a film Baramulla has turned out to be!

The film’s story (Aditya Dhar, Aditya Suhas Jambhale) is nothing even nearer that you have seen or heard or even witnessed so far! The novelty that this duo brings in the script is just awesome! The film’s background music (Shor Police) forms another USP of the film!

Even though the film scores heavily on cinematography (Arnold Fernandes), the climax could have been shot under ‘brighter light’. The film’s editing (Shivkumar V. Panicker) is topnotch and watertight. Had the film’s climax scene been trimmed a bit, this film would have served as a masterclass in editing!

Baramulla Review: FPJ Verdict

For those who always wanted to explore the unsaid, unknown dark side of Kashmir, there could not have been a better film than Baramulla! Watch it at any cost. You will surely thank us for this advice!