Set in the early 1960s in a large Indian city. The story of three orphaned children, the eldest of whom, Debu, is twelve years old. Debu does his best to earn money so that his brother and sister do not become homeless vagrants. With the help of kind people, Debu manages to provide for his brother and sister, as well as himself.

The story surrounds the lives of Dr. Rehman (Shashi Kapoor) who believes in saving the lives of the poor, instead of opening up a clinic in a big city and making money; Soni (Rekha), an innocent village girl, who was abducted by dacoits during her marriage with Dharma (Puneet Issar), and when the police rescue her and bring her back to her groom, he and his family reject her, making her seem like a fallen woman; Dr. Kumar (Ashok Kumar) who is the very opposite of Dr. Rehman; and Dr. Anand (Vinod Mehra), the son of Dr. Kumar. Dr. Anand practices under Dr. Rehman, who testified for him during a criminal trial for malpractice which resulted in the death of the husband of Rani Sahiba (Moon Moon Sen). Soni has fallen in love with Dr. Anand, but Dr. Anand has strong reservations against her, due to her background.

Maanav is an orphan who was brought up by a Catholic Priest. After completing his M.A. he returns home and finds out that his mentor is dead. He re-locates to Bombay and a man named Gopichand Sharma attempts to steal his luggage. The men become friends - Gopichand eventually changes his lifestyle, decides to be honest. Maanav gets him a job with Hercules Milk Foods. Maanav meets with and falls in love with the daughter of the owner of Hercules Milk Foods, much to the chagrin of her Dad. Then one day Maanav disappears from Gopichand and Kaajal's lives. He re-locates to Simla and it is here that he learns that things have spiraled out of control.

Rajan, a wealthy Basantpur man, accidentally causes Shanti's vision loss with face afire. He becomes an eye surgeon, but his friend Ramdas is arrested and sentenced to prison.

Dhun comes from a wealthy and talented family and desires to see the world on his own. He sets upon this travel and on his journey comes upon an inn called Five Daughters, run by Pahar. Deciding to stay there for a while, he meets Pahar's daughters and falls in love with Pooja. Pooja reciprocates his love and both hope to get married. Just when their marriage is being planned, Pooja's family comes to learn that Dhun and Pooja are related.