Directed by Arindam Sil Music by Bickram Ghosh | Written by Padmanabha Dasgupta | |
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Produced by Mahendra Soni
Shrikant Mohta Story by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay Starring Abir Chatterjee
Ritwick Chakraborty
Sohini Sarkar | ||
Har Har Byomkesh is a Bengali mystery thriller film directed by Arindam Sil and produced jointly by Mahendra Soni, Shrikant Mohta and Nispal Singh Rane on Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films banner respectively. The film is based on the fictional detective, Byomkesh Bakshi, created by the Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The film stars Abir Chatterjee as the eponymous sleuth, while Ritwick Chakraborty enacts the role of his assistant Ajit Bandopadhyay and Sohini Sarkar helm in the shoes of Satyabati. The teaser of the film was released on October 11, 2015. The trailer was launched on October 15, 2015. The film got a U/A certificate and was released on 18 December 2015.
Contents
Plot
In Benaras, Inspector Ratikant Choudhury (Shadab Kamal) invites Byomkesh Bakshi (Abir Chatterjee), Ajit Bandopadhyay (Ritwick Chakraborty) and Satyabati (Sohini Sarkar) to a party thrown by zamindar Deepnarayan Singh (Adil Hussain) 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 (Nusrat Jahan) , through a portrait of Dushyanta and Shakuntala drawn by her.The painting haunts him, though he fails to understand why . Then he comes to know about Deepnarayan being bed-ridden for long and Shakuntala's pregnancy .The rest of the story revolves around how Byomkesh, along with Ajit, DSP Purandhar Pandey (Harsh Chhaya) and Satyabati, solved the mystery.
Cast
Development
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.
Casting
Sohini Sarkar was selected to play the role of Satyabati. Initially, the character of Shakuntala was offered to Aditi Rao Hydari, who was recommended by Shoojit Sircar to the director, which would make her Bengali debut. B.A. Pass actor Shadab Kamal was selected to enact the role of the main antagonist, making his debut in Bengali cinema.
Adil Hussain was selected for a supporting role. Harsh Chhaya, June Malia, Rachel White and Subrat Dutta were selected to play prominent roles. On 12 July 2015, it was announced that Aditi Rao Hydari walked out from the film and Nusrat Jahan would replace her. Actor Soumyajit Majumdar, known for his role in Aashiqui 2, will also play a role. Shinjini Kulkarni, granddaughter of Pandit Birju Maharaj, will play herself in a mujra sequence in the film.
Filming
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 June 16, 2015. The filming commenced on August 19, 2015 at Benaras. 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.
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.
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" while The Times of India gave a rating of 4 stars out of 5.
Box office
The film was a runaway hit at the theatres.