The film starts with wife Radha Kishen (Shabana Azmi) garlanding her husband Avtaar Kishen's (Rajesh Khanna) bust while she mourns his death, then flashes back thirty years. Radha, is the only daughter of Seth Jugal Kishore (Madan Puri), and is in love with Avtaar, a poor boy. Her father disapproves so the two elope and get married.