In 1960s Calcutta, a middle-class housewife is compelled to take the job of a saleswoman in order to support her family. She not only takes a job but proves a huge success in the workplace, relishing her new-found independence and thoroughly upsetting the family dynamic. Satyajit Ray builds a powerful human drama that is at once a hopeful morality tale and a commentary on the identity of the modern Indian woman.

Reviews

‘An utterly absorbing and moving drama about the changing worlds of work and home in 1950s India, and a hymn to uxorious love acted with lightness, intelligence and wit.’
★★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

‘A bustling urban drama about the conflicts of work, gender and money, richly believable in the details and fascinating in its social vision.’
★★★★
Tim Robey, The Telegraph