[1] Completed in 1952, it preceded Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali as perhaps the first example of an art film in Bengali cinema, but is deprived of that honor, since it was released twenty-four years later, after Ghatak's death.

His mother is yearnful of older times when the family used to live in a better house, but she bears her suffering quietly, for the most part.

The light of Ramu's life is his lover Uma, who lives in an equally precarious situation with her sister Shephali and her mother.

Jatin is an even poorer minor character living near Uma's dwelling who Ramu avoids because he cannot help the former out financially.

To make ends meet, Ramu's mother takes in Sagar, a poor chemist, as a paying guest.

[2] The pain of the Partition is poignant among the protagonists, all refugees from East Bengal, now suffering from the loss of homeland and livelihood.

Its film noir feel and stylised manner has something in common with contemporary works in Hindi cinema by Guru Dutt and Kamal Amrohi.