A Gurudas Bannerjee directed and acted Hattamela presentation of children's drama that blends humour and stark reality in a delightful manner presentable to children and the use of young actors and actresses deserves compliment.
The story begins with the a petty thief, Pocha, fed up with the regular squabbles with his wife, tries to put an end to his life in the ghost-ridden forest of Hetamgarh. Here he is meets an aged ghost who assures him that a spirit is unable to take human life by force and asks him to reconsider his decision. Almost immediately follows his encounter with an escaped sickly tiger from a circus who can talk and he too, contrary to taking lives, asks Pocha to think again. Then follows the adventure of Gabbar Singh, the dacoit and his satellite Kalia who reaches the forest in search of a hidden treasure followed by police officer Badan with his constable Sankhachur whom he sometimes mistakenly refers to as Chanachur. In the midst of this treasure hunt Khecha, the dead father of Pocha, appears and tells his son about the location of the treasure and then onwards everybody try their luck at the hidden wealth. This treasure hunt continues till Pocha ultimately evades everybody but then came the problem as he fails to open the treasure chest, an eggshaped box without a lid. The audience will be pleased with the final revelation of the treasure and the drama ends with the message that even in the faces of all odds it is left to man himself to find a way out and thus bring happiness to the soul.
The drama ended with Mr. Bannerjee acknowledging the the contribution of Meghnad Bhattacharya in the stage setting and Mr. Subhabrata Ghosh as the storywriter but I felt the acknowledgement was incomplete as he never mentioned the source of the starting tune that I thought to be the same as that used in Goopy Gaine Bagha Baine during the ghost dance at the forest.
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