Quite comparable to Pather Panchali: the episodic nature of the storytelling, the setting, the naturalistic performances, the stunning music, the economic hardships. The direction is at least competent, and often quite strong, with some memorable images. I was a bit too busy thinking about the Ray comparisons to get the most out of it, but I found it very easy to get engaged and I connected with the characters. Might be lacking a little something to push it into the range of greatness.