Jio Studios and B62 Studios’ Baramulla is the story of a police officer investigating the case of missing children from Baramulla in Kashmir.
DSP Ridwaan Sayyed (Manav Kaul) is sent to Baramulla to investigate a case of missing children. Once there, he and his family are sucked into a web of disturbing truths which include supernatural occurrences.
Aditya Dhar and Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s story about displaced Kashmiri Pandits and about Muslims in Kashmir is quite interesting. But since one has seen several films about Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir, this one doesn’t evoke much excitement even though it is a different take on the oft-repeated story. The writers here seek to underline that if Kashmiri Pandits suffered a great deal due to terrorism, Muslims are also often at the receiving end. Aditya Suhas Jambhale and Monal Thaakar’s screenplay is quite confusing because things are sometimes not explained in detail. The juxtapositioning of the current crisis in Ridwaan Sayyed’s life and the plight (many years ago) of the Hindu family which lived in the house currently being occupied by the Sayyed family may be a novel way of underlining the similarity between the two episodes, but it will confuse a lot of viewers — more so because the earlier part of the drama is sketchy. The climax — or for that matter, the entire drama — lacks the emotional quotient. Aditya Suhas Jambhale and Monal Thaakar’s dialogues should’ve been more effective.
Manav Kaul is quite good as DSP Ridwaan Sayyed. Bhasha Sumbli is natural as Gulnaar Sayyed. Arista Mehta leaves a mark as Noorie Sayyed. Rohaan Singh does a fair job as Ayaan Sayyed. Neelofar Hamid makes her mark as Zainab. Ashwini Koul impresses as Khalid. Kiara Khanna does well as Eela Sapru. Nazneen Madan leaves a mark as Mansi Sapru. Priyank Tatariya has his moments as Kamalanand Sapru. Mir Sarwar is realistic as Ansari. Sanjay Suri is natural in a tiny role as Dr. Sharad Sapru. Shahid Latief (as Junaid Malik), Shahid Malik (as the techie cop), Shahid Mushtaq (as Saleem), Khurshid Mir (as Iqbal Bhat), Mir Salman (as the militant of the 1990s), Vikas Shukla (as sub-inspector Shaukat Ali), Ahmad Ishaq (as Shoaib Ansari), Gaurav Parashar (as Zafar Mansoor), Panav Vaswani (as the dead classmate of Noorie), Shafia Maqbool (as Salma Ansari), Dafiq (as Faisal Munshi), Asrar (as Yassir Vani), Hadid (as Usmaan Darr), Mubashir (as Babar Mirza), Princess Horain (as Noorie’s friend), and the rest do as desired.
Aditya Suhas Jambhale’s direction caters only to the gentry audience because he has made a very class-appealing film. Shor Police’s (Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes) music is average while its background music is impactful. Siddhant Kaushal’s lyrics are meaningful. Arnold Fernandes’ camerawork is fine but a lot of scenes have been shot in minimal lighting, which can irritate the viewers. Vicky Arora’s action and stunt scenes are thrilling. Monica Balsara’s production designing is of a good standard. Shivkumar V. Panicker’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Baramulla is for the classes mainly as it lacks entertainment value of any kind.
Released on 7-11-’25 on Netflix.