[It] is right for a film to preserve the indigenous quality of its country of origin, but Ray is unique among Indian filmmakers in that he has combined this with a cinematic idiom that is acceptable outside India. His films are very slow, but the influence of neo-realism and a flair for poetic imagery has brought them nearer to us than other Indian films have ever been. Even so, the slowness of Ray is less consistently cinematic than the slowness of, say, Antonioni. At times he is content to let the subject matter too much alone, and observe his characters, or in this case his almost solitary central character, in pictures that are often pretty dull.

Yet, at other times, there are indications of his ability to present evocative images…. But [in The Music Room] there is never enough of this to outweigh the rest, the plodding part...