  We present optical photometry and spectroscopy from about a week after
explosion to $\sim$272 d of an atypical Type IIP supernova, SN 2015ba, which
exploded in the edge-on galaxy IC 1029. SN 2015ba is a luminous event with an
absolute V-band magnitude of -17.1$\pm$0.2 mag at 50 d since explosion and has
a long plateau lasting for $\sim$123 d. The distance to the SN is estimated to
be 34.8$\pm$0.7 Mpc using the expanding photosphere and standard candle
methods. High-velocity H-Balmer components constant with time are observed in
the late-plateau phase spectra of SN 2015ba, which suggests a possible role of
circumstellar interaction at these phases. Both hydrodynamical and analytical
modelling suggest a massive progenitor of SN 2015ba with a pre-explosion mass
of 24-26 M$_\odot$. However, the nebular spectra of SN 2015ba exhibit
insignificant levels of oxygen, which is otherwise expected from a massive
progenitor. This might be suggestive of the non-monotonical link between O-core
masses and the zero-age main-sequence mass of pre-supernova stars and/or
uncertainties in the mixing scenario in the ejecta of supernovae.
