Baramulla Review: Manav Kaul's Haunting Ode to Loss, Memory, and Exile
Manav Kaul delivers one of his most powerful performances in the Netflix film Baramulla, a story where true horror stems not from ghosts but from grief, memory, and the anguish of displacement. It is a cold reflection on loss and belonging in the Kashmir Valley—eerily human and emotionally unsettling.
‘Baramulla’ is not spooky; it’s far more disturbing than that.
Instead of resorting to jumpscares or spectral shadows, the film exposes a deeper terror—the fear of separation, the pain of losing identity, and the trauma of being uprooted from one’s homeland.
Beyond the Surface of a Thriller
At first glance, Baramulla seems like a conventional horror thriller. However, it gradually unfolds as a somber meditation on grief, exile, and the ghosts of memory that linger within a lost homeland. Written by Aditya Dhar and directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, the story follows DSP Ridwaan Sayyed, played by Kaul, a determined officer probing a string of mysterious disappearances in Baramulla, Kashmir.
The Storyline and Its Nuances
Children begin to vanish without leaving any trace, the only clue being their shorn hair scattered nearby. As Ridwaan investigates, what starts as a routine police case evolves into a haunting exploration of unresolved history and the muffled voices of the displaced.
Layers of Memory and Loss
Baramulla constructs its sense of dread not through the supernatural but through recollection itself. The narrative begins as a straightforward procedural infused with political undertones but gradually turns inward, exploring pain, remembrance, and awakening. Every frame feels steeped in the collective memory of exile and the sorrow of separation.
Author’s Summary: A meditative, grief-laden drama where Manav Kaul transforms horror into an emotional reckoning with memory, loss, and identity in the haunting landscape of Kashmir.