While this film is generally thought to be the weakest link in the Apu chain, and I generally agree, it's a bit like saying that Ava Gardner's legs are her third best feature. I mean, they're still pretty spectacular, right? So what you have here is a timeless story of a youth emerging into manhood and, in the process, freeing himself, quite literally, from the thrall of his parents, especially that of his loving, too controlling mother. And while the story is well told, with magnificent set pieces, such as the life of the city of Benares which centers on the spirituality industry of the Ganges complete with competing holy men and constant immersions, and the sadness in the eyes and body language of Apu's mother once she realizes that she has lost him to the wider world being the two most indelible for me, there are undeniable lapses in writer director Satyajit Ray's story choices. The father's death, in my opinion, occurs too soon so that it lacks the dramatic impact it should have had and certain characters, like the lecherous neighbor in Benares and the kindly great uncle who rescues Apu and his mother after the dad dies, are woefully under explored, while too much time is given to Apu's college life in Kolkata and his friendship with a male student (another character not gone into with sufficient depth). And while these story lapses are not fatal or even harmful, when you compare them to the seamless flow of Ray's preceding film, "Panther Panchali", where there is not a single scene or character wasted, you can see why film critics at the time were not as impressed with this second installment in the triptych. For me, however, the biggest disappointment has nothing to do with the foregoing story problems but is centered around the fact that I will no longer get to see the magnificent Karuna Banarjee turn in one of the great performances of all time as perhaps the most maddeningly poignant cinema mom of all time. Give it an A minus. PS...Lest I forget, let's raise a sitar for Ravi Shankar's hauntingly beautiful score!