Comparatively baroque and melodramatic in terms of its images and story, it manages to mount a lucid, finally very moving argument against the destructive nature of fanaticism and superstition.

A haunting experience, and should have been, coming from afar from a man born to make movies.

One of Satyajit Ray's greatest early films (1962), full of sensuality and ironic undertones.

Visually, I think this is the most beautiful film that Ray has made... It is an achievement of an integrity as clear as a piece of glass.