AllMovie

Aparajito is the second and perhaps best of Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy. Much of the appeal of Ray's work lies in his universal themes, in this case the transitional period of a child's growing into an adult and leaving home to find the world. Ray builds from this foundation to give his characters a variety of experiences and to emphasize one of his major themes, the inevitability of change. Although it was not distributed outside of India until later, Aparajito was first released in 1956. The big English-language films of that year were trivial spectacles like Around the World in 80 Days and The Ten Commandments. It is a tribute to Ray that his work has remained relevant to current-day audiences throughout the world.