Vishwam (Naseeruddin Shah) is the youngest brother of the powerful and influential village Zamindar (Amrish Puri). The Zamindar will not hesitate to do anything for the welfare and protection of his family, which also includes bending the law to his own advantage. Vishwam is married to Rukmani (Smita Patil), and unlike his brothers, does not indulge in alcohol or women, nor does he have any bad habits. Then the village gets a new schoolmaster (Girish Karnad), who has a wife, Susheela (Shabana Azmi). When Vishwam sees her for the first time, he is unable to take his eyes off her, and unable to get her out of his mind. Susheela does not reciprocate his attentions. Then one night, Susheela is forcibly carried away in a car by the Zamindar's right-hand men (Mohan Agashe and Anant Nag). The schoolmaster's efforts to stop them are to no avail, and the several people present do nothing to stop this abduction. What will the schoolmaster do to get his wife back, knowing fully well that even the village policeman (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) kowtows to the Zamindar.