Loosely based on true events in 2007, Romancham follows the story of a group of bachelors who play the ouija board until a series of strange events that follow. The story here is a perfect premise for a horror comedy that does translate into genuine laughs and chills. The screenplay standing at 130 odd minutes does take some time to warm up. But post the introduction of the conflict, the film is an absolute joyride.

The drama does open with one of the protagonists narrating a story of he and his friends from the hospital bed. So as a part of the initial setup and the trademark world building of Malayalam films, you are introduced to the bunch of protagonists who are all jobless(barring one) and are often seen whiling away their time. So you are acquainted with their room and it is absolutely how a bachelor’s room would be – dirty! The stray incidents include the presence of a rat in their room and they brush with drugs while almost doing nothing worthwhile in their lives. Soon, one of them is introduced to the Ouija board and that is when the film shifts gears, resulting in genuine laughs.

The proceedings are hilarious and engrossing at the same time. The entire sequence of the boys operating the ouija board resulted in a series of laughs like no other. This was a clear case of clever writing that did was self aware on what it wished to present. What does start off on a frivolous note with a couple of characters ‘operating’ the board, soon turns out to be a nightmare when the actual spirit enters the drama, thus resulting in laughs. A sort of a business model developed also does result in laughs aplenty particularly the one featuring a character who ‘tests’ the Ouija board with his father’s name. But in between, there are also moments where the writing infuses the drama with much needed urgency and tension, thus resulting in chills. So the horror-comedy genre was nicely nailed down here.

The interval block did escalate the tensions setting up things nicely for the second hour. Now while watching the film, it may seem to you that there is a disconnect between the first and the second hour, particularly because the drama changes track in the second hour with the introduction of a new character. The humour is prevalent throughout though but I was interested in seeing how the writers would connect the events of the first half with the second. And that too is done in a rather interesting manner. The entire final act is just so well executed that does make up for the horror elements in the drama. Even a hint of a potential sequel was nicely setup with an object that did result in laughter. So overall, the screenplay here is terrific and almost nails the tricky horror-comedy genre and how!