Bengali films that nailed the horror comedy genre

Horror comedies are to some extent a new genre that Bengali cinema has been exploring in recent times. While majority of the Tollywood horror films turn out to be unintentionally funny due to the stereotypical portrayal of a ghost, Bengali cinema is now trying to rediscover this genre. It is not like that, Bengali horror comedies hadn’t been made in the past, but the numbers are only a handful. Among them, the Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne series stands tall. But since the past few years, the trend is gradually changing. Here’s a list of Bengali horror comedies that strike the right chord.

Truly one of the best things Bengali cinema has witnessed in recent times is this particular movie. The narrative carefully builds up with every minutest detail thoroughly checked and continues till the end. The simple storyline revolves around a haunted mansion in Kolkata. The characters and their enactment by excellent actors with amazing one-liners turn out to be the essence of this movie. The cinematography, editing, and its simple presentation are the USP. The story carefully deals with the adverse effects of an alarming rise of multiplexes and high-rise buildings. The ghosts are here used as a metaphor. Replace them with the common man, the struggling middle class of the society and you would get to see the actual message hidden inside the comic elements.

Extremely witty, provocative, highly lyrical, and languid, Aparna Sen’s ‘Goynar Baksho’ will definitely flirt with you and also arouse but it will not submit to you in any part. It depicts the changing status of women in the society throughout three generations. The horror-comedy tested Bengali film lovers’ patience to make you laugh with the content and enjoy the pride to be a part of history you forgot. It’s the screen adaptation of Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay's popular story of 3 generations of women and their positional and social shift, attached to a box of jewels, handed over from one generation to the next.

‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’ is believed to be one of the most interesting decisions in Satyajit Ray’s career, given his tradition of making films with serious and strong social messages. It’s a fantasy adventure revolving around the titular characters Goopy and Bagha and inspired by a story written by Ray’s grandfather Upendra Kishor Roychoudhary. Apart from narrating social issues, this Bengali classic showed the true meaning of friendship. The way Goopy and Bagha stand side by side even when facing their hardest obstacles, it redefines the bonds of loyalty. Also Bhooter Raja’s inclusion is unbelievable. Goopy and Bagha please Bhuter Raja or the king of ghosts who grants them three boons - they just have to clap each other's hands to eat whatever they want, travel wherever they wish and can render listeners awe-struck with their music.

This Sandip Ray movie has 3 ghost stories spun together by a comical twist interlinked with unusual events. It’s inspired by 3 Bengali short stories - Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's ‘Bhut Bhabishyat’, Satyajit Ray's ‘Brown Saheber Bari’ and ‘Anath Babur Bhoy’. The background music of this movie also received a great response. Both the cinematography and background score make us intrigued with every new story pillared by decent performances. Overall, Sandip Ray manages to churn out a fine one time watch with an exclusive merit of introducing us to the brilliant stories written by the two gifted masters. While the first two stories will no doubt give you the chills, the third one Bhut Bhabishyat delivers ample amount of humour and romance. If you are looking for a horror movie with a difference, ‘Jekhane Bhooter Bhoy’ is certainly a nice choice.

It’s the story of an old peasant, Bancharam (Manoj Mitra) who stood his ground against the tyrannical landlord Chhakari (Dipankar Dey). Undoubtedly a venerable powerhouse in 20th-century theater, a superb playwright, actor, director, producer and film-maker, Manoj Mitra, is most famous for his portrayal of Bancharam. The film was adapted from a stage play ‘Sajano Bagan’ directed by Manoj Mitra himself. ‘Bancharamer Bagan’ shows how an elderly man becomes a one-man army against the corrupt society. The angry ghost of a landowner and his furious son wait for Bancharam to breathe his last to take over the garden. Though Bancharam promises to die soon, in reality he only gets healthier every day. Definitely one of the classy horror comedies you would find in Indian cinema!

Haranath Chakrabarty broke his usual trend of making out and out commercial movies with ‘Chalo paltai’ and he continued it with ‘Chayamoy’, a children’s film based on a novel of same name by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay. This is one such movie which will restore your faith on ‘good’ ghosts. The story follows a young man who returns to his root, a rural village in Bengal and discovers gold coins. But, a local goon led conspiracy accuses him of robbery and the young man escapes to hide in a nearby forest. There, he comes across a kind spirit who decides to give the goon a lesson.

Abir Sengupta made his directorial debut with immense experience of screenplay and dialogue writing for popular television show. Everybody thought he would make his first film on a thriller subject, but he chose to direct a romantic comedy with a touch of horror (that never scares you!) and roped in none other than Abir Chatterjee and Paayel Sarkar to play the lead. His directorial debut was much appreciated for the linear narration and surreal elements. The story sees how newly-wed Riya finds her husband Deb forced to commit suicide just after their wedding. So, she decides to travel Yamlok to claim her husband to be handed over to her. She succeeds and her husband comes back but as a ghost! You can imagine what happens next when Riya finds out this.