Baramulla 2025

In the town of Baramulla, Kashmir, a young boy named Shoaib, the son of a local former MLA, vanishes during a vanishing trick in a magic show where he had volunteered, leaving behind only a lock of hair. To uncover the truth, DSP Manav Kaul Sayyed arrives with his wife Bhasha Sumbli Gulnaar and their children, Noorie (a girl who is highly allergic to dogs) and Ayaan. Ridwaan has a tense, strained relationship with Noorie, which complicates the case from the start.

The family is given an old villa to live in, watched over by a mute caretaker named Iqbal. In the police station, Ridwaan comes to believe the magician charged with Shoaib’s disappearance is innocent, a view not shared by inspector Shahid Latief Shaukat Ali, who argues it’s a straightforward kidnap.

As the investigation unfolds, unsettling occurrences begin to plague the Sayyed household. Ayaan discovers an old box of sea shells hidden under a floorboard; Noorie complains of a dog smell in her room and notices Iqbal carrying a plate of fish and rice to a locked attic space; Gulnaar finds a bottle of her perfume uncorked and knocked over in a cupboard. The locals respond to Ridwaan’s arrival with hostility, scrawling the word “Kaafir” on the villa wall, which hits Noorie particularly hard.

Ridwaan and Shaukat head to Shoaib’s home, where they encounter Ansari, a local former MLA played by Mir Sarwar. The investigation then takes Ridwaan to Shoaib’s school, where he talks with the principal, Neelofar Hamid Zainab, and meets Noorie again, who has become more withdrawn despite attempts to connect. Noorie eventually befriends a local boy named Khalid, brought to life by Ashwini Koul.

Ayaan’s sea-shell play evolves into a chilling encounter as he chats with the shadowy spirit of a child. One night, Noorie witnesses a dog’s shadow and ventures into a closed room, finding a path to the attic where she is abducted by shadowy entities, leaving a strand of her hair behind. Gulnaar discovers Noorie’s disappearance and realizes something supernatural is at play. Ridwaan, continuing the investigation, learns of another local boy who vanishes—this time while fishing in a lake—and a similar strand of hair is found, hinting at a pattern of disappearances connected to the same people.

A trail of clues leads to a cryptic pen drive recovered after a shootout with militants. The drive contains an audio clip titled “Bhaijaan” that cryptically lists the identities of students from the local public school. As the case deepens, Khalid becomes a focal point: a raid on his home reveals a phone video in which Noorie speaks of joining militants, a revelation that shakes Ridwaan to the core.

Meanwhile Gulnaar’s investigations uncover a hidden room behind a cupboard, where she finds images of Hindu gods, a Shivalinga, and other Kashmiri Shaivist symbols—evidence that the villa once housed a Kashmiri Pandit family. Gulnaar suspects a buried history of trauma, while Ridwaan remains skeptical of her interpretations. A flashback reveals a year-old hostage crisis in Reasi, Jammu, in which Noorie and several schoolmates were taken by militants; during a rescue operation, Ridwaan unintentionally shoots a classmate of Noorie, an event that scars her deeply.

That night, Iqbal is implicated when he becomes possessed by the female spirit and reveals that they are protecting innocent children from a poisonous indoctrination. The female spirit then shows Gulnaar the shadowy dimension where all the missing children are kept, foreshadowing the next abduction.

Ridwaan and his team capture Khalid and extract a confession: an underground ISI-backed operation abducts children to be brainwashed and sent to Pakistan for training in militancy, led by a mysterious figure known as Bhaijaan and by their area commander Juneid. Gulnaar’s plea to Ridwaan about the missing children intensifies as she warns him of the next target, Yassir, Juneid’s nephew.

Ridwaan races to prevent Yassir’s export to Pakistan and shoots the trafficker, only for Yassir to seize the exporter’s rifle and challenge him. The shadowy entities descend and abduct Yassir in front of Ridwaan, tipping the balance toward belief in the supernatural.

That night, the Sayyeds participate in a ritual of offering food to the attic’s spirits. A possessed Ayaan speaks as the spirit of Eela Sapru, a little girl who once lived in the villa, recounting a ancestral betrayal. The possession ends with blood on the forehead, and Zainab arrives with police, presenting a threatening note that brands her a spy. When the villa is attacked by Juneid Malik’s militants, a brutal firefight erupts as Ridwaan and the remaining officers fight back. Gulnaar, Ayaan, Iqbal, and Zainab hide as the past of the villa—before the Sayyed family—comes to life.

The memory of the Sapru family—the Kashmiri Pandit doctor Kamalanand Sapru, his wife Mansi Sapru, their daughter Eela Sapru, and their caretaker Iqbal—unfolds: the Sapru family hides in the home as militants close in. Kamalanand is killed, Mansi is slain, and Eela dies in an altar room, their blood staining sacred symbols. The pets are killed too. Out of tragedy, the spirits of Mansi and Eela awaken to protect the innocent, and Ridwaan confronts Juneid, a fierce struggle that culminates in Shaukat arriving with reinforcements. Juneid tries to escape with Zainab as a hostage, but Gulnaar, now possessed by Mansi’s spirit, shoots Zainab and Ridwaan shoots Juneid. Juneid’s phone is seized, and a twist reveals Zainab as Bhaijaan when her own phone rings, exposing her as the traitor who betrayed the Sapru family years earlier.

With the danger neutralized, Noorie is returned to her family, and the Sapru spirits appear in the villa to acknowledge the closure of a haunting chapter. The missing children are recovered from the same location where they disappeared, and Noorie finally opens up to her father. Gulnaar honors the return of the children by performing the ritual of offering food to the spirits in the attic.

The film closes on a somber dedication to the Kashmiri Pandits and their descendants, who still await justice and a return to their homeland. Six months later, the Sayyed family visits Dr. Sharad Sapru, the last surviving son of the Sapru family; Ayaan places the sea-shell box—the object belonging to Eela—into his hands, and Dr. Sharad Sapru breaks down in tears, comforted by his wife and Ridwaan.