| Director | Satyajit Ray |
|---|
In Calcutta in the 1950s, Arati, a homemaker, lives in a cramped apartment with not only her husband Subrata and their young son Pintu, but also Subrata's younger sister Bani, father Priyogopal, and mother Sarojini. Money is tight with only Subrata's income from working at a bank and doing some tutoring, so Arati tells him that she wants to get a job, and he helps her find work selling the Autonit, a knitting gadget, door-to-door. Subrata's orthodox and conservative parents disapprove, but Arati, who is initially hesitant and nervous on her own out in the world, soon begins to prosper in her field. She befriends Edith, an Anglo-Indian colleague, who exposes her to some modern Western ideas, including wearing lipstick.
Arati begins to find that she enjoys her new-found financial and psychological independence. However Subrata points out that both of his parents, and their son Pintu, are opposed to her working: "Peace within the family is more important than money." He also points out the physical toll that her long hours are taking on Arati. For these reasons, Subrata asks her to quit her job, saying he will, instead, find a second, part-time, job. Before Arati can quit, however, the bank Subrata works for shuts down in the last of the Calcutta bank crashes, so he has no choice but to let Arati continue to work. Now the sole breadwinner of the family, Arati immediately asks for a raise, and Mr. Mukherjee, her boss, gives it to her. He even says he intends to make her a group leader once he expands the sales force.
Subrata spends his days idly at home, his suspicions and insecurities deepened by such things as finding lipstick in Arati's purse and overhearing her lie and describe him as a successful businessman to a male acquaintance. Meanwhile, Priyogopal, a retired schoolteacher, begins visiting his successful former pupils after Arati starts to work, preferring to beg, rather than accept any money from her. He gets a badly needed pair of eyeglasses from an optometrist and some money from a lawyer, but then collapses and falls down a flight of stairs on his way to see a doctor, who chastises Subrata for neglecting his father. Priyogopal apologizes and agrees to let Arati care for him while he recuperates, and they reconcile.
Subrata goes to Arati's work when she is out and meets Mr. Mukherjee, an affable and astute man who quickly surmises why Subrata is there. Noting that they both are from Pabna District, Mukherjee offers to use his connections to help Subrata get a job, and they arrange to meet that evening. When Arati gets back to the office, Edith is in tears because Mukherjee just fired her, supposedly because he does not believe she was actually sick when she missed several days of work recently. Knowing Edith really was sick, and also that Mukherjee is biased against Anglo-Indians, the once-timid Arati confronts her boss over the unjust firing. After a heated exchange during which Mukherjee refuses to apologize to Edith, Arati hands him the resignation letter she did not give him before Subrata lost his job and storms off.
On her way out of the office, Arati meets Subrata returning. She tearfully apologizes for impulsively quitting her job, and, although Subarata realizes that now he will have to look elsewhere for work, he does not mention this to Arati, instead praising her for having the courage to stand up to injustice. Though they face an uncertain future, the couple reaffirms their commitment to each other and goes off together, hopeful that they will be able to find new jobs in such a big city.