Purani Haveli 1989

On a moonlit night, a young couple, Raja Anil Dhawan and Rita Preeti Sapru drive through a dense forest and decide to rest near a secluded haveli. Exhausted, they drift to sleep on the outskirts, but around midnight the silence shatters as a terrifying roar erupts. The husband is dragged away and killed by a dreadful monster Manik Irani, and Rita, awakened by his screams, rushes to help—only to find herself slain as well. An elderly man, Navin Narendra Nath, arrives a little late, and uses a crucifix to frighten the creature, trapping it inside an underground cage and fastening the latch so the evil cannot escape.

The tale then shifts to Mumbai, where industrialist Kumar Vijay Arora lives with his wife Seema Neelam Mehra and their niece Anita Kumar Amita Nangia. Since her parents’ passing, Anita has been under her uncle’s care, and Seema hopes she will marry her younger brother Vikram Tej Sapru to help “manage” the estate, though Anita yearns for the photographer Sunil Deepak Parashar. The couple’s image is complicated by money, power, and a looming threat over Anita’s future.

A royal scion named Rana Pinchoo Kapoor arrives in Mumbai with a proposal: he would like to sell a haunted haveli he owns in the Murud area. Liking the photos of its quiet beauty—its rocky shoreline, rugged beach, and surrounding forest—Kumar agrees to the purchase, revealing that he and Seema are also childless. Anita is introduced as Kumar’s niece who would be involved in the purchase, and she is asked to sign cheques for the transaction, with Kumar promising to fill in the final figures later. Rana paints a picture of the haveli’s serene surroundings, but Seema resists a visit, worried Anita would be left alone if they went there.

When Shankar, the haveli’s cleaner, arrives to tidy up, the unsettling atmosphere and a distant roar unsettle him. He’s found dead by the eerie decor and soon after Kumar accompanies Rana to the mansion to complete the deal. Inside, the haveli’s strange magic seems to come alive: the iron statue blindsides Kumar, lifting him into the air and choking him, and his decaying body is found later by his frightened companion. Kumar’s escape through a graveyard behind the mansion ends only after the flames of a hidden fire close in, and the monster’s spirit drags him underground.

Meanwhile, Seema and Vikram grow increasingly desperate as Anita edges closer to adulthood and the estate rights. Vikram resumes pressure on Anita by forcing her to visit the haveli the next day, hoping she will yield. Seema’s plan intensifies as Sunil and Anita secretly meet at a friend’s birthday celebration and reminisce about their past. Upon returning home, Anita is brutalized by Vikram, who threatens Sunil’s life if she resists. Shobha Shubha and Anand Sikander Khan witness Vikram’s brutality and try to shield Anita, but the pressure continues.

A group of Anita’s friends, along with Anita and Sunil, eventually arrive at the haveli. When Michael, one of Vikram’s friends, is killed by the iron railing on the upper floor, fear spreads and the plan begins to unravel. Seema and Vikram’s plot escalates as they lure Sunil into the dungeon where Vikram waits; they leave Sunil there to die and lock the dungeon door.

Inside the dungeon, Sunil discovers that the monster’s cage still holds the dark force. Navin reveals the truth: about twenty years earlier, a nun warned of something unholy in the haveli, and if a baby were born there, evil itself would emerge. The grief-stricken Navin, who had arrived there for his wife’s delivery, defied the warning and faced the consequences. He and the nun then locked the monster away, spending years guarding the mansion to keep it from harming others.

Vikram returns to verify Sunil’s fate and, unknowingly, releases the monster, meeting his own end at the creature’s hands. The monster then goes on a killing spree across the area, slaughtering Seema and other innocents, and finally makes its way toward a bus near a church. There, the creature is confronted by divine forces, impaled on a cross, and set ablaze, ending its reign of terror.

In the aftermath, Sunil and Anita light candles at the church and look toward a hopeful future together, choosing to begin anew away from the mansion’s dread. The tale closes on their quiet, steady resolve to move forward.