Khauf Review: Contemporary Indian horror often struggles with tone and depth, leaning too heavily on gimmicks or preachiness. Khauf, created by Smita Singh and streaming on Amazon Prime, strikes a rare balance—anchoring its fear in raw, present-day trauma over ghosts. Though nuanced and atmospheric, it isn’t entirely without its flaws.
Khauf Review: The problem with horror in contemporary Indian cinema/ series is the marked lack of tonality and balance when exploring the genre. How much of a commercial gimmick does it need to be? What is the level of artistic integrity that one includes without turning it too preachy? Thankfully, amid a sea of questionable choices in filmmaking, Smita Singh’s Khauf, which has been directed by Pankaj Kumar and Surya Balakrishnan, and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, manages to portray a balanced representation of horror rooted firmly in contemporary times that ups the scare factor more through bare trauma than the eerie presence of the spectral.
Having said that – Khauf, as nuanced as it may be, is not without flaws – real, or otherwise.
Madhu (Monika Panwar of Jamtara fame) is a young woman from Gwalior who is seeking a fresh start. Trying to recover from the trauma of gangrape, she finds shelter at a remote hostel in the suburbs of Delhi. But the sinister lurks in a corner. Madhu confronts the strange behaviour of the women around her, who all, initially urge her to leave and then try to turn her into a pawn as she gets stifled in a suffocating unease that permeates the hostel.
