But, as the family settles in to their new urban digs, Harihar accepts a post as a priest, and spends his day selling medicines and leading devotional classes by the river. Apu (who is now called by his parents the nickname Khoka) gets into mischief with his new friends, and Sarbajaya retreats into her own world, while fending off the none too subtle advances of a lecherous neighbor. About a half hour into the 105 minute film, Harihar gets a fever, takes ill, and soon dies.
Ray shows a superb touch in having his death moment coincide with the raucous release of pigeons from between buildings, as well as slipping in a sly criticism of religion, for the scene not only coincides with the flutter of many pigeons’ wings, but with Harihar dying almost immediately after imbibing so-called 'holy water'. Interestingly, Ray’s ongoing criticism of the hokum of his native country’s religion is, as far as the dozens of reviews I’ve looked over online, almost nonexistent.
Artistically, however, and despite the fact that this second film, narratively, is a lesser film than the first film, Ray’s mastery of cinematic technique, however basic, is still excellent, and more so, it has improved. Such an effective and poetic quick cut does not exist in Pather Panchali. Sarbajaya has taken work as a servant for a rich family, and, upon his father’s death, Apu starts earning money as a priest. Soon after getting her post, Sarbajaya’s employers decide to return to their home village, and she takes Apu back to the countryside, although it is likely nowhere near Apu’s home village. It is, however, within visual distance of a railroad track, which was such a powerful symbol in the first film, when Apu and his sister needed to trek to see tracks and the trains that ride upon them.
Once there, Apu decides he wants to go to a local school, and his mother agrees to help pay for it. There is a quick montage of the young Apu learning all sorts of things, enthralled by knowledge and encouraged by his teachers, and the last portion of that montage contains the ellipsis in time, which leaves the viewer with the third Apu, and second in this film — a young man ready to go to college, and having won some scholarships. But the scholarships are in Calcutta, and his mother is reluctant to permit him to go, despite his insistence.
Here, we see the growing neediness of Sarbajaya, as she is slowly morphing into the sort of person she despised in the first film: old Auntie Indir. But she gives in. Then, the film hits a lull. Apu is seen at school, then returning home, back at school, then going home, etc. In one sequence, his mother lets him oversleep to deliberately miss a train back to school, and he is upset, does not properly say goodbye, but still makes it, only to have a change of heart. He comes home, a tacit acknowledgment that he loves his mother.
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