Set in 1961, Ballabhpurer Roopkotha follows the story of a debt ridden King who is bankrupt and wishes to sell off his ancestral mansion until one of the ghost of his ancestors does play spoilsport. Based on a play by legendary theatre personality Badal Sarkar which is in turn based on the 1935 English film The Ghost Goes West, the story has the right ingredients for a rib-tickling supernatural comedy. The screenplay standing at 135 minutes does manage to hold your attention throughout.

The first thing that I really liked about the film was its intriguing setup. The visuals of the night add the right kind of an ambience to the story that does seem to the viewer as a horror comedy. A character is seen making his way to his mansion through the forests while being seemingly followed. While the coast is clear on that front soon after, there does seem to be a ghostly presence in the mansion. With closeups on a few photo frames and statues and the camera slowly panning in on the character, you as a viewer do expect a jump scare round the corner. But to the surprise of the viewer, the character just gasps and utters the word, ‘Raghu Da’. It is this playful start that sets the tone perfectly for things to follow.

This drama is a typical three act play, with the setup, the conflict and the resolution being each of the three sections. This could have been tedious to witness given that films in a single location soon run dry of ideas. But credit to the writers here for creating a situation of intrigue with dollops of humour engrained in it. The setup featuring the introduction of the protagonist(the same character that we see at the beginning) is pretty interesting as it is shown that he is bankrupt. The drama is witty with some sharp lines that formulate the setup in a comedy that ranges from being situational to slapstick in parts.

The flow of the drama needed to be maintained well and that continues through the second act beautifully wherein a buyer and as family enter the arena oblivious of the secrets that the mansion withholds. Their inquisitiveness is at different wavelengths that only adds to the humour of the first half brilliantly. Even though a few lines were lost in translation, I did find myself quite well engaged with the proceedings that were unfolding. Even the bit of a backstory wherein the cards were partially revealed did make for a watch which was frivolous in many wats although true to its source material.

I really did wish that the same momentum would continue through the second hour but honestly so, the second hour does see a slight dip although the humour quotient does remain intact. The dip is only comparative to the hilarious first hour that does see the most laughs. But some of the events in the second hour are well executed as well leading to moments of chaos and confusion. The simplistic and cliched final act not withstanding, the drama is really engaging and engrossing with bouts of humour that will tickle your funny bone time and again. Overall, the screenplay is quite well written.