When Manav Kaul stepped onto the screen as DSP Ridwan Syed Shafi in Baramulla, few expected the film to become a cultural lightning rod. But just six days after its November 7, 2025 release on Netflix, the Hindi supernatural thriller had clawed its way to No. 1 on India’s Top 10 trending movies list — a feat confirmed by Republic Bharat on November 13, 2025, even as Jansatta and News18 placed it at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively on the same day. The discrepancy? Streaming spikes don’t follow a clock. They follow emotion.
Why Baramulla Captured a Nation’s Attention
It’s not just another crime drama set in Kashmir. Baramulla doesn’t show militants or checkpoints. Instead, it shows children vanishing — not from gunfire, but from schoolyards, playgrounds, even locked bedrooms — leaving behind only cold air and a faint scent of jasmine. The film’s central mystery begins when the son of a former state legislator disappears, triggering a chain of unexplained abductions across the valley. Manav Kaul, in a performance that critics are calling career-defining, portrays a man haunted not just by duty, but by grief. His eyes tell stories the script never writes. He doesn’t shout. He doesn’t rage. He trembles — when he sees his daughter’s school uniform, when he hears a child’s laughter echoing in an empty alley.
The Cast That Made the Unseen Feel Real
Behind Kaul stands a quietly devastating ensemble. Bhasha Sumbli as his wife, radiating a calm so deep it feels like mourning in slow motion. Arismita Mehra as their daughter, whose growing distance from her father mirrors the valley’s own fractured trust in institutions. And then there’s the setting: Baramulla, the town where Kaul was born. That’s not just casting. It’s haunting symmetry. The film was shot on location — in the same alleys where Kaul played as a boy. The wind in the trees? Real. The chill in the stone houses? Real. The silence between dialogue? That, too, is real.
A Supernatural Twist That Resonates
What sets Baramulla apart is its refusal to choose between realism and myth. The disappearances aren’t solved by forensics or wiretaps. They’re solved by whispers — of jinns who steal children not to harm them, but to protect them from a world that has forgotten how to love. The film weaves Kashmiri folklore into its DNA, not as spectacle, but as spiritual truth. One scene, in particular, lingers: a mother sings a lullaby in Kashmiri to an empty bed, while outside, the wind carries the faint sound of a child’s footsteps — never approaching, never leaving. The sound design, by an anonymous team credited only as “The Valley Choir,” is so immersive, viewers reported turning their heads in their living rooms, expecting to see someone there.
Global Reach, Local Roots
By November 13, 2025, Baramulla had cracked the Top 10 in 16 countries on Netflix’s Global Non-English Films chart. It outperformed Tamil blockbuster Idli Kadai and even displaced the star-studded The Woman in the Line in India. IMDb gives it a steady 7.0/10 from nearly 7,000 ratings — not a blockbuster score, but a deeply resonant one. Critics at ABP Live noted how Kaul’s hands shake when his daughter doesn’t recognize him at school. “It’s not acting,” wrote one reviewer. “It’s memory.”
What This Means for Indian Cinema
Baramulla proves audiences aren’t just hungry for stories — they’re hungry for *truth*. In a market saturated with formulaic thrillers, this film dares to be quiet. It doesn’t need explosions. It needs stillness. It doesn’t need villains — it needs silence. And it’s not just a hit. It’s a signal. Streaming platforms are finally listening to regional voices, not just as accents, but as entire worlds. The production house, B62 Studios, didn’t chase trends. They chased texture. The result? A film that feels less like entertainment, and more like a collective sigh from a region often reduced to headlines.
What’s Next?
Netflix has not officially announced a sequel, but insiders say the studio is already reviewing unused footage from the Baramulla shoot — including scenes cut for pacing that delve into the backstory of the vanished children’s mothers. Meanwhile, local schools in Baramulla have begun screening the film in classrooms, not as horror, but as a conversation starter about trauma, memory, and healing. And in a quiet corner of the town, a new memorial has appeared — a single tree, planted where the first child vanished. Beneath it, a handwritten note: “We remember. We wait.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Manav Kaul’s performance in Baramulla considered so powerful?
Kaul’s portrayal of DSP Ridwan Syed Shafi is rooted in stillness, not spectacle. He conveys grief through micro-expressions — trembling hands, averted glances, the way he holds his daughter’s schoolbag like it’s sacred. Critics note his performance draws from his own childhood in Baramulla, lending authenticity. His silence speaks louder than dialogue, making the character’s internal pain visceral and unforgettable.
How does Baramulla differ from other Kashmir-based films?
Unlike typical Kashmir films that focus on militancy or political conflict, Baramulla uses supernatural folklore to explore collective trauma. The disappearances aren’t tied to violence but to spiritual loss — a metaphor for how communities forget their own stories. The film avoids stereotypes, instead using silence, sound design, and local traditions to create an atmosphere of haunting beauty, not fear.
What role does the setting of Baramulla play in the film’s success?
Baramulla isn’t just a backdrop — it’s a character. The film was shot on location, including streets where lead actor Manav Kaul grew up. The architecture, the weather, even the local dialects were preserved authentically. This grounding in real geography gives the supernatural elements emotional weight. Viewers feel the chill of the valley not because of CGI, but because they’ve been there — or know someone who has.
Why did Baramulla rank differently across Indian media outlets?
Netflix’s ranking algorithm updates in real-time based on regional viewing spikes, time zones, and user engagement patterns. Republic Bharat, Jansatta, and News18 reported rankings at slightly different times on November 13, 2025, capturing different peaks. The film surged after midnight in North India, causing its position to fluctuate. This volatility is common for streaming hits — it’s not inconsistency, it’s momentum.
Is Baramulla based on true events?
While the film isn’t a documentary, it draws inspiration from unexplained child disappearances reported in Kashmir since the 1990s, many of which remain unsolved. The filmmakers consulted local historians and elders to incorporate oral traditions about spirit beings linked to grief. The supernatural elements are fictional, but the emotional core — parental fear, institutional neglect, cultural erasure — is deeply rooted in reality.
What’s the significance of the 7.0 IMDb rating?
A 7.0 from nearly 7,000 ratings signals strong audience resonance, not mass popularity. Blockbusters often score higher due to volume, but this film’s rating reflects deep emotional connection. Viewers who gave it 10s wrote essays in comments. Those who gave it 1s called it “too slow” — but even they admitted they couldn’t look away. It’s a film that divides, but never bores.
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