In Nagarik, Ghatak adapts a family melodrama to the language of neorealism in treating his continual theme, the difficulty of individual integration into modern Indian society. A series of loosely connected stories set in a lower-middle-class neighborhood focuses on Ramu, an optimistic but perpetually unemployed young man who has himself, his girlfriend, and his entire family convinced that in just another month he will have a job. The months go by until, finally, time runs out. As the family prepares to move to a slum, still re-affirming their commitment to each other, the Internationale fills the sound track. Ghatak's first feature (never released in India) was made on a shoestring budget and it shows; yet its inventive, dialectical use of sound as text, and deep focus to place characters in the swim of larger events, are just two of the elements which belie this budget.