In Benaras, DSP Purandhar Pandey invites Byomkesh Bakshi, Ajit Bandopadhyay and Satyabati to a party thrown by zamindar Deepnarayan Singh at his residence to celebrate his recovery after a prolonged illness. But the very next day , Deepnarayan dies under suspicious circumstances. Byomkesh takes the responsibility of investigating his murder. He is clear about two motives - money and an illicit relationship. The list of suspects grows, even as Byomkesh discovers the painting skills of Dipnarayan's wife, Shakuntala, through a portrait of Dushyanta and Shakuntala drawn by her. The painting haunts him, though he fails to understand why. Then he learns that Deepnarayan has long been bed-ridden and that Shakuntala is pregnant. The rest of the story revolves around how Byomkesh, along with Ajit, DSP Purandhar Pandey and Satyabati, solved the mystery.
Shree Venkatesh Films bought the rights of Byomkesh franchise, except those with Anjan Dutt, planned to have on board more than one director to build the Byomkesh franchise. The first one from their stable is Har Har Byomkesh by Arindam Sil, based on Saradindu Bandopadhyay's Banhi Patanga. Shrikant Mohta hinted that after this film, one of the possible sequel may be directed by Sandip Ray.[10]
Though in the book by Saradindu Bandopadhyay, Patna was the story's main backdrop, but director Arindam Sil decided to shoot the whole film with Benaras in the premise. Sil, with his crew, left to conduct a recce in Benaras on 16 June 2015.[17] The filming commenced on 19 August 2015 at Benaras.[18] The filming took place for 25 days in many historic places such as the Ramnagar Fort in Benaras and Kolkata. The filming ended on 13 September 2015.[19][20]
Soundtrack
Bickram Ghosh is selected as the music director. Sutapa Basu penned down the lyrics for a Sawan, sung by Barnali Chattopadhyay and a Chaiti, sung by Sabina Rahman. With usage of old aged instruments Bickram Ghosh had aptly recreated the semi classical format which was popular in Benaras during the period captured in the movie. Bhojpuri singer Kalpana Patowary was confirmed to sing a bhajan, written by Sugata Guha in the film, which would pay tribute to a scene from Satyajit Ray's film on detective Feluda titled Joi Baba Felunath.[21][22]
Release
Critical response
The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Sankhayan Ghosh of The Hindu stated "Har Har Byomkesh is a moody, engaging detective film, yet crippled by the same old problems of the genre"[23] while The Times of India gave a rating of 4 stars out of 5.[24]
