The story revolves around Gopinath Gyne (alias Goopy, Tapen Chatterjee), the son of a poor Kayastha grocer Kanu Kyne from a village called Amloki. Goopy wants to become a singer but has a hoarse voice. Persuaded by village elders to sing for the king, he does so and is driven out of Amloki on a donkey for waking the king with his terrible singing. Exiled into a forest, he meets Bagha (Rabi Ghosh), another exile from nearby Hortuki sent to the forest – in Bagha’s case, due to playing a drum badly. They start singing and drumming, initially to scare off a roaming tiger, and in the process they attract a group of ghosts who are fascinated by their music. The king of ghosts grants them three boons:

• They can get food and clothes whenever needed by clapping their hands,
• They are given a pair of magic slippers with which they can travel anywhere,
• They gain the ability to hold people in awe (literally, their music renders people motionless) with their music.