To fulfil his father's dying wish, Dr. Shashikant gets married to Gauri. But misunderstandings and subsequent fights put them asunder. The story follows the separate individual lives of Shashikant and Gauri and their two children.

Sashikant is quite a playboy, while at med school. He lives with his widowed father, a retired Judge in a palatial home. The judge (Ashok Kumar) indulges him, with a houseful of servants, a motor car and all the luxuries money can buy; Ravikant is a brilliant student with a very close friend who is rusticated from med school for poor grades. Gowri (Rekha) is the housekeeper, who not only manages the servants and logistics of the household; she also ensures that Umakant follows doctors orders for medication and abstinence from sugar and smoking, firmly but with affection. She is after all, the daughter of Umakant's childhood friend, Narayan Singh (AK Hangal) a poor school teacher, and has known the family since childhood. She holds integrity and high moral values precious, and when she discovers Ravi is dating multiple women concurrently, she arranges for a rendezvous that has all but Ravi laughing, who is embarrassed enough to reform himself. The movie takes us through the ups and downs of four marriages, single parenting some colourful exchanges between a daughter of rich parents, a mother-in-law, the poor relatives of a rich father-in-law. The burning social question of whether a mother or a father is more successful as a single parent, is left for the viewer to decide.—MG Gopalan

Widower and former Judge Umakant Verma lives a wealthy lifestyle with his only son, Dr. Shashikant; a houseful of servants, led by Gauri, the daughter of his childhood friend, Narayan Singh. Gauri is not treated as a servant but more as a family member and has made herself totally indispensable. So much so when Umakant makes his last will and testament, he wants Shashikant to marry Gauri. Shortly thereafter Umakant passes away, and Shashikant and Gauri do get married. Soon Gauri gives birth to a boy, Ravikant, and a few months later gets pregnant again. Before she could conceive, she finds out that Shashikant has been meeting with a former girlfriend, Krishna, and refuses to take any telephonic messages from her, as a result Krishna's child passes away, a row breaks out between Gauri and Shashikant, and Gauri leaves the house. Shashikant does his best to bring up Ravikant on his own, while Gauri gives birth to another son, Umakant, and does her best to bring him up. The question remains which of the two parents will be successful in bringing up their respective sons, and who will be better - Ravikant or Umakant?—rAjOo ([email protected])