Abused by an oppressive brother-in-law Gajendra (Pran), Ramchandra (Dilip Kumar) runs away from home, and ends up in a small village where he is mistaken for Shyamrao (also Dilip Kumar), and must accept Ganga (Leela Mishra) and his new name or face severe exorcism. Meanwhile, Shyamrao is mistaken for Ramchandra by Anjana (Waheeda Rehman) and her dad (Nazir Hussain). When Gajendra finds out, he is enraged and attempts to beat the stuffing out of the person he thinks is his brother-in-law, but Shyamrao refuses to be abused or beaten, and all of a sudden things start changing in the household as well as in the community. It is not long before Gajendra finds out about the truth, and plans an ugly death for Shyamrao, and all those opposed to him.