It was a moment thick with emotion and history when Bhasha Sumbli, an accomplished actor and teacher, set foot in Baramulla last winter. For years, she had traveled across India, teaching and performing theater, but this was her first time in her ancestral district. The occasion? Shooting for the Netflix film Baramulla, a project that would become both a personal and professional milestone, not just for her but for a growing wave of Kashmiri artists making their mark on the national stage.
On November 7, 2025, Baramulla debuted on Netflix, reaching audiences in 190 countries. Before the global release, the film had a special screening for the press at a Mumbai preview theater. According to Bollywood Hungama, the event included an interactive session with Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh, Director of Original Films at Netflix India, producers Aditya Dhar and Lokesh Dhar, director Aditya Suhas Jambhale, writer Monal Thaakar, and lead actor Bhasha Sumbli herself. The air buzzed with anticipation, not just for the film’s artistic merits but for the stories it promised to tell—stories that, for many involved, hit close to home.
Aditya Dhar, one of the writers and producers, explained just how personal this project was for him. "For all of us filmmakers, whatever films we make, it all comes from our past and our life experiences. Those who have had good life experiences become Sooraj Barjatya! Those who go through difficult life experiences become Anurag Kashyap. Hence, Baramulla is something that is very personal to me, being a Kashmiri. But the whole point was that even a lot of Kashmiri Muslims have suffered. It would be absolutely wrong to say that only Kashmiri Pandits have felt the pain," he told Bollywood Hungama.
In a region where identity and belonging are often fraught, Dhar’s words cut through stereotypes. He highlighted the sacrifices made by Kashmiri police officers—many of whom are Muslims—who, as he put it, are "one of the most patriotic bunch of people that I have seen." According to Dhar, "One of the most difficult places in India to be a cop is Kashmir. In every other place in India, you don’t have a threat to life. Kashmir is the only place in India where any terrorist can come and shoot you from behind. This doesn’t happen anywhere else in the country." The film, he said, was an attempt to combine the experiences of both Kashmiri Pandits and those Kashmiri Muslims, especially those serving in the police force, who face immense risks and are sometimes unfairly labeled as traitors.
The script for Baramulla was first penned in 2016, but Dhar refused to sell it for what he considered an insultingly low price. "When I tried selling the script, toh kisi ne mujhe bahut gande paise offer kiye the. This is when I made up my mind that I would not sell this subject for a pittance and that I would make this film the right way," he recalled. Backed by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, the film finally found its audience on Netflix, a platform that ensured its story would reach far beyond the valleys of Kashmir.
For Bhasha Sumbli, the journey to Baramulla was deeply personal. As she told The Kashmir Monitor, "I was nostalgic, yet I did not want it to overwhelm to the extent that it interferes with the movie schedule." Born a Kashmiri Pandit but never having visited Baramulla before, she found herself navigating a complex web of memory and longing. Her role in the film—playing a mother and the wife of a Deputy Superintendent of Police—mirrored, in some ways, her own journey of return and rediscovery.
"First of all, it is not a horror movie. It is an investigative thriller. Actually, it flips through three to four genres. I play a female lead, a mother, and the wife of a DSP in the movie. In fact, it is my Netflix debut as an actor. I am very happy as it goes to 190 countries at the same time," Sumbli said, her excitement palpable. The film’s genre-bending nature—a thriller at heart, but with layers of family drama and social commentary—set it apart from typical Bollywood fare.
Sumbli’s journey to this point has been anything but ordinary. An alumna of the National School of Drama, she graduated in 2013 and soon began teaching acting at various universities. Her creative pursuits extended far beyond film; she is a research fellow of the Ministry of Culture and has directed operas based on the works of celebrated Kashmiri poet Dina Nath Nadim. One of her productions, the opera Vitasta, opened at SKICC in 2023. She has also completed a fellowship in advanced acting techniques in Kerala, underscoring her commitment to both learning and teaching the craft.
Her presence in Baramulla marks her OTT debut, but she is no stranger to the screen. Previously, she played a key character in a theatrical release and made a cameo in Deepika Padukone’s Chhapaak. Yet, it is this project—set in the land of her ancestors—that seems to carry a special weight. "I teach acting at different universities. I write plays, do theatre, and also act in movies," she explained, reflecting on her multifaceted career.
Sumbli is part of a new generation of Kashmiri artists making waves in Bollywood and beyond. The list includes Taaruk Raina, who starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Rangeen, and Khalida Jan, who played Roshni in the same show. Their stories, like Sumbli’s, are emblematic of a broader cultural shift: Kashmiri voices and stories are finding a place in mainstream Indian entertainment, often challenging the narratives that have long dominated the conversation about the region.
It would be easy to pigeonhole Baramulla as just another thriller, but the film’s creators are adamant that it is much more. By weaving together the struggles of Kashmiri Pandits and the everyday heroism of Kashmiri Muslim police officers, the film offers a nuanced portrait of a place too often defined by conflict alone. "I attempted to tell this story where I combine what Kashmiri Pandits experience and what these patriotic Kashmiri Muslims are experiencing right now, especially when the latter are being termed as traitors. This was a small thought and written way back in 2016. I even forgot about it as time passed," Dhar said, underscoring the long gestation of the project.
The release of Baramulla on Netflix marks not only a personal triumph for its creators and cast but also a significant moment for Kashmiri representation in Indian cinema. For viewers around the world, it offers a rare glimpse into the complexities of life in Kashmir—its pain, its patriotism, and its persistent hope. As the credits roll, one can’t help but wonder what stories will emerge next from this storied valley, now that its artists have found a global stage.
