Soukarya Ghoshal, who had earned widespread acclaim for Rainbow Jelly in 2018, returns with a delightful fusion of fantasy and comedy in Bhootpori that is reminiscent of Leela Majumdar’s literary works for children.

Like Rainbow Jelly, Bhootpori too revolves around a young protagonist, Surja, played brilliantly by debutant Bishantak Mukherjee. Surja starts sleepwalking at night, prompting his mother Shilalipi (Sudiptaa Chakraborty) to take him to their ancestral house during Durga Puja to rest and recover. The house holds many secrets, including the legend of Kalo Thakur (Shantilal Mukherjee), a spiritual leader, and the haunted forest nearby.

Ignoring warnings, Surja ventures into the jungle where he comes across the friendly ghost, Bonolota (Jaya Ahsan), and strikes up a friendship with her. Surja learns that Bonolota hasn’t slept ever since she died and decides to help free her soul. Surja also runs into a benevolent thief, Makhon (Ritwick Chakraborty), who takes on the role of his guide in this mission.

Bhootpori draws inspiration from Bengali literature where ghosts are portrayed as friendly and mischievous. Surja and Bonolota’s conversations might remind one of Barun and Nidhiram Sardar’s interactions in Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s Gosainbaganer Bhoot. The scenes where Surja rummages through old furniture in the store room or explores the tunnels dug by Makhon’s family members as getaways for thieves, crisscrossing the village, bring back memories of reading similar tales in magazines like Anandamela.

While treating the supernatural with a light touch, Ghoshal turns one’s attention to malpractices in colonial era Bengal, like human sacrifice, and also the churn that society was undergoing, through a subplot involving young widow Bonolota’s remarriage.

In Bonolota, we have an independent woman who doesn’t want to be a burden on her father, and Jaya Ahsan is captivating as the lonely ghost, her kohl-smeared eyes speaking volumes of the pain she has endured since her untimely death. Ritwick Chakraborty and Sudiptaa Chakraborty are effortless in their roles as well.

Ghoshal’s world building is top-notch, with considerable attention to detail, thanks to set designer Ananda Addhya and costume designer Pooja Chatterjee. Aalok Maiti’s cinematography and Nabarun Bose’s background score add to the film’s haunted atmosphere. Arghyakamal Mitra’s crisp editing keeps one engaged from start to finish.