Kalyani lives in a small tenement with three sons, Vijay, Nandu, and Bhola, all of whom are unemployed, slackers and trouble-makers. One day Nandu gets into serious trouble with Shantilal, who summons the police, and has him arrested. Kalyani goes to the Police Station to plead with the In-Charge Officer to release Nandu, to no avail. She then goes to Shantilal to try to persuade him to withdraw the charges, also to no avail.
Thakur Suraj Singh lives a wealthy lifestyle with his wife; three sons - Kishore, his wife Laxmi & two children Pappu and Laali; Vijaykamal, & Mohan; and an unmarried daughter, Radha. Kishore looks after the family business, while Vijaykamal is a renowned poet, and Mohan is studying law in the city. Vijaykamal is in love with lovely Sapna, but she is forced to marry Bihari, and kills herself on the night of the marriage. Vijaykamal witnesses her death and loses his mind. The family decide to keep him under lock and key on the terrace of their house. Unable to admit Vijaykamal to a mental asylum, Suraj brings home a young courtesan, Chand, who he hopes will cure Vijaykamal, and she does succeed considerably, but is traumatized, sexually assaulted by Vijaykamal, and abused by the rest of the family.
Bipinchandra breaks family tradition by marrying a city girl, Hemangini, much to the chagrin of his sister-in-law, Kadambini, and her husband, Navinchandra. Things are delicate even after both women give birth to two children each. Then Hemangini testifies against Navinchandra in Court, leading to the division of the property. Things got worse by the arrival of Kadambini's orphaned school-going step-brother, Kishan, who is beaten and abused by not only by Kadambini and Navinchandra, but also by their overweight son. When Hemangini objects to Kishan's ill-treatment, Bipin takes the side of the rest of the family, and may probably force her to abandon Kishan to his fate or divorce her.
Shanker is a young man who lives in a small village community with his mute sister, Durgi, and his mom, Shanti. Shanker's efforts to get Durgi married are all in vain. The local money-lender, Lala, in his early 60s, comes to know about this and proposes to marry Durgi, but is refused, and asked to leave. Lala plots vengeance, and gets his chance to rape Durgi, resulting in the death of Durgi. Shanker hunts him down, and kills him. Lala's death involves the police, and Shanker must run from them. He does so, and joins a gang of dacoits and pledges to be part of their gang, not knowing that in so doing, he will be spending the rest of his life, hiding in caverns and the countryside, unable to see his mother anymore, nor any normal human being, for the rest of his life.
After a failed conquest, Emperor Ajaatshatru pretends to be a soldier in the enemy's army to weaken them from the inside. However, he falls in love with Amrapali, a well-respected royal courtesan, and must decide what his main priority is.
The son of a wealthy family, Monish falls in love with Deviyani, a girl from a considerably less privileged background. When Monish leaves to study abroad, the lovers plan to reunite, but desperate financial straits force Deviyani into a marriage with a philandering drunk instead. Deeply unhappy, she flees, taking her infant daughter with her and vanishing into thin air. Does fate have more than misery in store for the unfortunate Deviyani?
Kundan is a medical student but just before getting the degree he got implicated in a murder charge and cannot finish his degree and takes the wrong path of crime. His neighbor and childhood friend Shanti who Kundan grew up with was married to Kundan at the behest of her mother but they got separated after Kundan took the path of crime. Eventually, Kundan took the job of a taxi driver and befriended a bunch of hoods, and continued with his criminal activities.
Classmates Laaj (Waheeda Rehman) and Shyam elope to Bombay with Laaj's necklace, which they hope to pawn to pay for their travels. On the train, a crafty journalist named Pran (Dev Anand) overhears the lovers' plan and follows them in search of a story. When Shyam snatches the necklace and runs off, it's Pran to the rescue. What follows is a song-filled caper of intrigue, adventure and romance.
A joint family consisting of four brothers, their wives, and their respective children, living under one roof. Some of the brothers are professionls, one a lawyer, a doctor, and others businessmen. They are a happy family, living and sharing each other's joys and sorrows. Then one day, an arguement breaks out over a glass of milk, and the entire family is thrown into chaos, and the only resolution seems to be nothing but dividing the entire property amongst the brothers and their respective families.
A vengeful princess waits for the right moment to kill her foster father - the Emperor.
When a local mining company dares to provide its workers a fair wage for a fair day's work, and lets its workers unionize, the kingdom's villainous potentate is less than pleased. After considerable pressure, the company agrees to blame unrest in the region on a blameless worker collective.