Apu, now a jobless ex-student dreaming vaguely of a future as a writer, is invited to join an old college friend on a trip up-country to a village wedding.
The sole dream of Ramu, eldest son a family of migrants, and Uma to build a happy life together is burdened by a pile of obstacles on their way due to economic upheaval in post-partition Calcutta.
Kanchan, all of eight years old, is always up to pranks and mischief in his village home. He finds his father a cruel demon who keeps his mother oppressed and imprisoned. In his dreams, the big city is El Dorado, until he reaches there.
