Despite their determination and effort, two working class friends in Bombay struggle to improve their lives.
Widowed by the sudden passing of his wife, Superintendent of Police, Choudhry, brings up his son, Rajesh, on his own, teaches him all known good values, and when he grows up sends him to College in Bombay, and remits money to him regularly. Choudhry would like to transfer to Bombay Police, so that he can be close to his son, and then one day out of the blue, his transfer is approved, and a delighted Choudhry writes to his son to pick him from the railway station. Upon arrival in Bombay, he does not find his son at the Railway Station, but when browsing through a newspaper he sees his son's photograph - wanted for the murder of a card-sharp. Shocked and dismayed, Choudhry attempts to piece his life together and attempts to find Rajesh before the City Police do - for he may well face the death sentence. Choudhry does find him, but only after Rajesh is accused of killing a woman named Kishori, and this time Choudhry is quite sure that there is no hope for Rajesh.
Amar and Prem, college friends, and Asha and Shobana form friendships. Marriages are arranged, but dowry demands a US ticket. Prem returns, becomes office predator, and Asha endures harassment to pay off debts.
Kailash Sharma is found guilty of sexually molesting Shanno and killing Dheeraj Kumar Verma, and sentenced to be hanged by the Jammu & Kashmir Sessions Court. After his appeals at both High and Supreme Courts fail, he asks his wife, Seema, to take their daughter, Pinky, and re-locate elsewhere. Seema and Pinky re-locate to Bombay where she takes up sewing to make a living. She befriends their neighbor, Ratan, and both get married. 14 years later Pinky has grown up and has a boyfriend, Vikram, who she wants to marry. Meanwhile, Kailash, who is still alive as his sentence was changed to life imprisonment, arrives in Bombay to look for his family. After sometime he does find them but decides not to interfere in their lives as they appear to be happy. But when Seema finds out she goes to meet him secretly - a visit that will set off a chain of events that will end up drastically changing their lives forever.
Thakur Bhupendra Singh and his son Ajit are powerful landlords who oppress a helpless community of villagers. Ajit marries Laxmi, a city girl who has come to the village to be with her brother,Bheema. Bheema and a feisty village belle Gauri, are in love but before they can marry, tragedy strikes. Ajit, who had abandoned Laxmi soon after their wedding returns and murders her. The law is helpless and Bheema decides to take law into his own hands.
Raju (Raj Kapoor) and Gaura (Nargis) are childhood lovers and promise to be with each other no matter what. Jeevan (Iftekhar) keeps bullying Gaura and is jealous of Raju. He overhears them professing their love for each other and conspires to separate them.
Sagar Singh is a businessman who lives in scenic Simla with his widowed mom; brother, Bipin, his wife, Urmila; sister, Prema; and brother, Kishan. When he returns from USA, he meets with Prema's music teacher, Savitri C. Thakur, and falls head over heels in love with her. The Singhs approve of Savitri and soon the couple are married. What Sagar does not know is that Savitiri loves another man by the name of Manohar Dhani, who is the local tourist guide, but cannot marry him, as according to an astrology professor her husband is fated to die within the first 40 days of her marriage. She keeps her affair a secret from Sagar, but Manohar shows up - and he makes his intentions quite clear from the beginning - that he is here to marry Savitri, by hook or by crook, even if he has to kill Saga
A rich businessman, Dayashankar Kumar (Shivraj), who is a widow, lives with his two young sons Ashok and Raj. When he catches the younger boy Raj stealing money, he punishes him and threatens to cut off his fingers. A frightened Raj runs away from home. Years pass and the older brother Ashok (Ashok Kumar), becomes the owner of his father's business and property, running Superior Motors, which also extends to Bombay. Ashok is married to Lakshmi (Nirupa Roy) and is a caring and loving husband. They have a young son, Munna (Daisy Irani).
In the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, particularly in the Chambal Ravine there are abundance of bandit gangs, chiefly consisting of Brahmans and Thakurs, both carrying on their age-old rivalry and hatred for each other from generation to generation. Our story revolves around Brahman Pandit Tulsiram who betrays Thakur Bahadur Singh to the police, and as a result Bahadur is sentenced to be hanged.
The story of two families — one Muslim and one Hindu — living together in India under British rule.
A man faces a problem when his very own brother decides to marry the woman he loves.
Meet Pyarelal, a simple-minded, naive young man, orphaned at birth, living with a Muslim landlady, Fatima, who treats him like her son. When the police arrest Pyarelal on the charge of murder, no one really believes that this harmless man could harm anyone, leave alone kill. Their belief is shattered when Pyarelal openly admits in Court that he has indeed committed this crime, and demands capital punishment for it.
Surjit Singh is forced to take care of Ram Din's family after he accidentally kills him while driving under the influence of alcohol. However, he is treated with hostility by Ram Din's family members.
Roshan is a pickpocket whose life changes after a man he steals money from commits suicide. Driven by guilt, he sets out to repay the money to the deceased man's family.
To better himself, a spoiled prince temporarily assumes a commoner's identity. But he soon learns his palace has been gifted to his father's new wife.
Raja, a middle-class man in Bombay, and his friend Ashok arrange Laaj's marriage to Ravi, an orphan. Ravi disappears, and Raja refuses to marry Madhu, hiding a secret.
An honest man instills in his only child the adage, 'Honesty is the best policy.' When the boy grows up, he has to fight for the truth and it remains to be seen if he can keep his ideologies alive.
Vaidehi (Manisha Koirala) gets married to Raghuvir (Jackie Shroff), an NRI. Suffering the agony of an unhappy marriage, she decides to run away from him when she learns that she is pregnant and he wants to take the child away from her. In her pursuit for freedom, she meets Mythili (Mahima Chaudhury) a bride-to-be, Janaki (Madhuri Dixit) a theatre artist and Ramdulari (Rekha) a village midwife - all of whom are victims of male chauvinism. They however refuse to be put down and fight for their rights.
Susanna is hungry for love and will go to any extent to find it in its purest form. In her quest for the perfect man, she gets married a number of times as each of her husband's die mysteriously.
A story of a young, middle-class urban working couple wanting to get married and their tribulations in finding a house in the city of Mumbai.