After destroying his older brother's motorbike in retaliation for his constant bullying, 11-year-old Krishna is sent to a traveling circus to earn money to pay for the bike's repairs, but soon winds up in the streets of Bombay's poorest slums. There, he befriends the drug dealer Chillum and young prostitute Sola Saal, while trying to make enough money at a neighborhood tea stall to repay his debt to his family.
Concerned about the outbreak of plague in a distant rural village in India, Dr. D.D. Sinha asks a number of prominent doctors to go there and treat the ailing and prevent the disease from spreading. No one except his protégé, Dr. Paras, is prepared to go there. Dr. Paras travels there, works with the villagers to prevent the disease and treats the ailing, and is successful in preventing it's spreading to other communities. He meets with village belle, Lajwanti alias Lajjo, and both fall in love with each other.
The poet, Ravi, haunted by the memory of his former lover Naina is drowning his sorrows in alcohol when he meets Jyoti