By Ayesha Khan 
Mumbai, October 3: The trailer for “Lord Curzon Ki Haveli” is out, and it’s not the usual glossy Bollywood tease. A dinner table, dim lights, guests who don’t belong together. The laughter sounds off, and the walls look like they’re hiding something. Within seconds, it’s clear this isn’t a comfort watch. Actor Anshuman Jha, stepping into direction for the first time, is going dark. The film opens in cinemas on October 10, 2025.
Inside The Haveli
The trailer doesn’t hand out much story. It just traps you in that old haveli, a colonial relic, cold, too big for its own good, and leaves you guessing. Every shot feels like it’s watching the characters more than they’re watching each other. That’s classic Hitchcock territory. Suspense in silence, not in explosions.
The People At The Table
Arjun Mathur plays it smooth, almost too smooth. Rasika Dugal carries that unnerving mix she’s known for, warmth that turns sharp in a blink. Zoha Rahman, Paresh Pahuja, and Tanmay Dhanania all look like they’re in on something, though what exactly isn’t clear. That’s the fun of it. No one is saying what they’re thinking. And you, as the viewer, don’t trust any of them.
Jha’s Leap
For Jha, known since Love Sex Aur Dhokha, this is a risky start as a filmmaker. He could have gone safely. He didn’t. A black comedy thriller in one house with a handful of characters is not the sort of film that sells itself. But it is the sort of film that, if it lands, can mark a director instantly.
The script is by Bikas Mishra (Chauranga). That matters. Mishra’s writing isn’t about surface thrills; it usually cuts into social texture. Which suggests the haveli isn’t just a setting. It may stand for something else: class, power, or perhaps even the legacy of colonial wealth.
Who’s Backing It
The film is produced by Golden Ratio Films, First Ray Films, and Jetty Productions, with Max Marketing serving as the presenting partner. That’s a lot of hands on one project, and it signals belief. Mid-budget thrillers in India don’t always survive the market squeeze, but this one is being pushed into theatres in the thick of the festival season. It’s a gamble. Then again, Hitchcock built a career out of gambles.
What’s At Stake
Hindi cinema doesn’t make many thrillers like this. We do crime dramas. We do horror comedies. But a straight chamber thriller, with humour that’s as dark as the shadows in its frame? Rare. If Lord Curzon Ki Haveli works, it might nudge others to take the same risk.
For now, the trailer leaves one clear image: a table of people pretending to smile, none of them safe, all of them trapped. On October 10, audiences find out who cracks first.
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- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
