Success in work and rapid advancement through the ranks turned the young, capable geologist and prospector Andrei Chernogorov into a dry, selfish careerist. Simple, human relationships ceased to exist for him. Varya, Andrei’s wife, a collector by profession, having separated from her husband, leaves to look for a zirconium deposit. After some time, Andrei was sent to the same survey party. Arriving in the desert among ordinary people with their harsh, working everyday life, he begins to realize that he behaved unworthily.

The film takes place in Uzbekistan during the Great Patriotic War. Pulat and Bahor love each other, but the happiness of the heroes is prevented by a rich friend of the parents of a girl who sees her as her future wife.

Today is a happy day for Akbar and Farida Sadykov—their son Kamal is being released from prison. But Akbar was right to dread this meeting. His son hasn't forgiven his father for his imprisonment. He didn't even approach Akbar. Alone, Kamal recalls an old story his father told him...

About the struggle of Uzbek women against the reactionary clergy in the 1920s.