Jackie Shroff and Sharad Kelkar are stepping into a darker world with Kaali Kheti, an upcoming rural horror film that seems determined to make the countryside feel anything but peaceful.
The film is written and directed by Haris Imtiyaz Khan and produced by Sana Khan under BlackCanvas Studio. The project also features Neha Sargam, Virendra Saxena and Shaji Choudhary in key roles. Earlier reports introduced the film under the title Kheti, with the story described as a horror drama built around family history, buried secrets and the consequences of confronting the past.
The Poster Sets the Mood
The newly revealed poster keeps things deliberately dark.
Most of the frame is swallowed by black, while a weathered hand grips an old lantern glowing with a small yellow flame. Behind it, a face is only partly visible, with one eye catching the light from the darkness.
It is a simple image, but that restraint works.
There is no monster reveal, no blood-heavy visual and no attempt to explain the threat. Instead, the poster creates the feeling that something is already there, watching from just beyond the light.
The lantern also feels important. In a rural setting, it can be read as something practical and familiar, but here it becomes almost symbolic: a tiny source of light surrounded by something much larger and more threatening.
Horror Rooted in the Countryside
What makes the project interesting is its setting.
Rather than placing the horror inside a haunted mansion or an urban supernatural world, the film is rooted in fields, family legacy and rural memory. Previous first-look material had already introduced that atmosphere through images of a figure hidden among tall crops, suggesting that the land itself may be tied to whatever has been buried in the story.
The makers have so far kept the central conflict under wraps, which suits a film built around secrets.
Kaali Kheti is slated to release in cinemas on October 23, 2026, according to the latest poster.
If the film carries the same unsettling restraint as its first look, this could be an interesting addition to the growing space of Indian rural and folk-inspired horror.
