Plot

Depicts the end days of a decadent zamindar (landlord) in Bengal, and his efforts to uphold his family prestige even when faced with economic adversity.

Huzur Biswamghar Roy is a rich landowner who lives in a palace with his wife and son and his many servants. His passion - his wife would call it his addiction - is music and he spends a great deal of his fortune on concerts held for the locals in his magnificent music room. His wealth is in decline however. His lands are being eroded by the local river and he pays for the concert he arranges for his son's coming of age party by selling some of the family jewels. When his neighbor Ganguli invites him to a party at his house, Roy decides to one up him and organizes a lavish party for the same day - costing him the last of the jewels. After his wife and son are killed in a storm, Roy becomes something of a recluse, closing up the music room. Now, many years later he decides to have one final concert, spending the last of his money to again outdo - and spite - Ganguli.—garykmcd

It is a poignant drama directed by Satyajit Ray, set in colonial India. The story revolves around Biswambhar Roy, a wealthy aristocrat clinging to his past glory in the face of financial ruin. Roy's grand mansion, Jalsaghar, once the epitome of opulence, now stands as a decaying relic of a bygone era. As Roy's financial situation worsens, he stubbornly refuses to adapt to changing times or acknowledge his declining fortunes. Instead, he continues to host extravagant music concerts at Jalsaghar, desperate to maintain his status and uphold his family's legacy. Amidst the faded grandeur of Jalsaghar, Roy's obsession with tradition and cultural refinement blinds him to the reality of his situation. His decadent lifestyle and refusal to modernize create tensions with his more pragmatic neighbor, Mahim Ganguly, who represents the emerging middle class. Despite warnings from Ganguly and his own financial advisor, Roy persists in his delusions of grandeur, culminating in one final, extravagant music concert at Jalsaghar. The event serves as a poignant symbol of Roy's tragic downfall and his inability to accept the inevitability of change. In the end, as the echoes of music fade and the dilapidated walls of Jalsaghar stand silent, Roy's stubborn refusal to let go of the past leads to his ultimate undoing. "Jalsaghar" is a haunting meditation on the perils of nostalgia, the clash between tradition and modernity, and the inexorable passage of time in a rapidly changing world.—SunMaximusOne

Biswambhar Roy is a zamindar (landlord) and the last of his kind. With the title, he has none of the perquisites, inheriting diminishing lands that are being eroded by the neighbouring river. But he must maintain the lifestyle of his heritage. This ostentation is most apparent in the grandest room of his mansion, the music room. Here he inports the finest musicians and dancers to perform, and invites the area's most important commoners. His wife's entreaties to control spending are ignored, and the puberty party he throws for his son bring him down to the last few sacks of family jewels. Then, struck by tragedy, he locks the music room and slips into lethargy - until a final grand soiree consumes the last of his funds.—Bruce Cameron <dumarest@midcoast.com>

Huzur Biswambhar Roy (Chhabi Biswas) is a middle-aged aristrocrat in India. His estate is suffering financially, but he continues to engage in the indulgences that he thrives off of. He has a palace that includes an opulent music room, replete with a huge chandelier, mirrored walls and various rugs. He also loves riding his white horse or his domesticated elephant. He is somewhat insulated and basically only interacts with his estate manager (Tulsi Lahiri), his servant (Kali Sarkar) and his beloved wife, Mahamaya (Padmadevi), and young, teenaged son, Khoka (Pinaki Sengupta).

The wealthy Mahim Ganguly (Gangapada Basu), the son of a neighbor who was a debt collector, returns from the West to claim his late father's estate. Ganguly is a shrill social-climber and asks that Roy come to visit the estate. When Ganguly builds his own more modern music room, he plans an opening party. In competition, Roy claims and starts to plan his own music room party. This is despite his financial floundering.

Mahamaya and Khoka go to visit friends via boat, while Roy stays behind. Upon their returning boatride, a storm hits and kills nearly everyone on board the boat, including Mahamaya and Khoka. Roy withdrawals into grieving and a long-lasting depression. The anguish he goes through ages him visably.

Four years go by with Roy by himself in his palace. On day, Ganguly visits and boasts about a young female dancer who has discovered a new form dancing that is performing at his music room. The younger man's grating manners gives Roy the motivation to have yet another music room party. Roy's servant is estatic, but his estate manager is less than happy, since Roy is even more financially destitute than before. The music room is re-opened for the first time since his family's death and cleaned up. The female dancer is booked and several neighbors attend, including Ganguly. The dancer and the music group give a magnificent performance.

Roy lingers in the music room throughout the night, long after the last guests leave. Drunkly, he pays tribute to his ancestors and his own portrait. However, his bliss turns to hysterical despair when the candles in the music room start to go out. Obviously mental unsound, his fear of the darkening room mystifies his faithful servant. The servant is able to open the drapes and Roy is comforted by the rising sun. Roy hears his white horse nay outside and claims that the horse is calling to him to ride him. His servant and estate manager are distressed, since Roy's dilapidated physical state makes horse riding dangerous now. Roy gallops off quickly on his horse with the estate manager and servant in pursuit. When he rides to the beach, he is distressed to see a beaching, broken boat, which reminds him of his departed family. He doesn't change the horse's course and, upon nearly colliding with the boat, the horse flips out and jumps in the air, knocking Roy roughly into the ground. Roy dies where he lays with his servant and estate manager standing over him.