There's no denying the wonderful form, but it didn't grab me emotionally as Ray's film do.

The most powerfully subtle social study film I've seen from Ray thus far. No other director could have me trying to catch my breath as I explore my realisations of the subtext to Ray's own hauntingly beautiful music, whilst on the surface is a run of the mill conversation. The conflict between righteous tradition and modern ambition is incessant. Rarely does the film sentient engage, but it is less detached than some of his other films; largely due to Chatterjee's charisma, and Tutul's mystique.

The story of a man who is thoroughly modernized and Westernized. Even the movie's style is modern, with its intro that feels like an industrial film, the commercial that suddenly appears in color, and a European flavor to the camerawork. It doesn't have the melodramatic heft of Ray's more celebrated films, but the deft handling of the subject matter is very effective. The visiting sister-in-law as the film's quiet conscience is a nice device. The acting and cinematography are nearly flawless