Raghu Shukla lives in a small town in India with his wife, Sarojini; two sons - Naresh and Ramesh, who are married to Sudha and Shobha respectively, and altogether have three children, an unmarried daughter, Seema, who is away studying in a hostel, and a nephew named Prabhu. When the time comes for Raghu to retire, his sons and daughter-in-laws are thrilled as he will get his retirement savings. But all are disappointed when Raghu pays off his debts instead and decides to live as a dependent on his sons. Naresh decides to move out to Bombay, and informs them that he can only take Sarojini with him, while Ramesh says his income can only accommodate Raghu. In this way, Raghu and Sarojini are separated. Sarojini re-locates to Bombay where she will eventually be treated as a maidservant, and live a life confined in the four walls, while Raghu will be dependent for all his needs on Ramesh and Shobha. When Seema comes for a visit, she witnesses her parents' plight and decides to take an extreme step to alleviate their sufferings - a step that will send shock waves to Ajay, her boyfriend, as well as the rest of the Shukla family.