Master Dharam Murti, an honest and principled schoolteacher, witnesses the murder of a man at the hands of Sher Singh Bandookwala and does not hesitate to report him to the law. However, Bandookwala uses his power and wealth to bribe and threaten government officials to secure his freedom. In order to exact revenge, he places Dharam Murti in an awkward position with a lady teacher, Menaka. Faced with public humiliation, Dharam Murti absconds from his village and abandons his wife and children.
His wife Savitri works hard and makes many sacrifices to ensure that her son Ravi (Jeetendra) becomes an engineer. The adult Ravi then resolves to fight against Bandookwala and restore his father's damaged reputation.
Over the years, Bandookwala continues to tyrannise the villagers, who are forced to cower under hi iron-fisted rule. His daughter Rekha (Sridevi) follows his footsteps and grows into an insensitive woman, who habitually harasses and demeans the locals.
Ravi's sister Padma has to marry Munimji's son Shakti as she is pregnant with his child. After marriage, Shakti and Bandookwala together start harassing Padma. Rekha falls in love with Ravi and decides to play the same trick against her father by pretending to be pregnant with Ravi's child.
After searching long and hard, Ravi finally finds his father working as a labourer at a dam construction site. Ravi then exposes Bandookwala's true face in front of the panchayat but despite unanimous acceptance of his guilt, Raju's father Dharam Murti requests for him to be set free on the condition that he should show affection to the poor and treat them well. Finally, Bandookwala becomes a good man and then Ravi marries Rekha.