Embedded with charged emotions and intrigue, this story of destiny and fate, begins with a lottery ticket. A drunk who cannot pay his tab, trades his 'winning' ticket to the waiter, Namdev (Pran), instead. Namdev decides to share this ticket with his three friends Damu (Amjad Khan), Raghu (Kader Khan) and Jaggi (Jagdish Raj).
However, when it turns out to actually be a winner, Damu and Ragu turn on the other two, murdering Jaggi and framing Namdev. Namdev goes on the run but Raghu and Damu intervene and throw him over a bridge into a river and Namdev is presumed dead. In a lucky twist of fate though, he is rescued by a don (Amrish Puri) but no one is aware he is alive.
Fast forward to ten years later - Damu and Raghu have used their stolen lottery money to build a fabulous hotel and make millions, becoming very successful businessmen. Damu has used a share of his money to send his only son, Vicky (Shatrughan Sinha) to school in England.
They have even employed Namdev's oldest son, Johnny (Amitabh Bachchan), Vicky's best friend, as a waiter in the hotel. By coincidence (or by fate!) Johnny and Vicky, who are the best of friends fall in love with the same beautiful singer, Miss Asha (Hema Malini). Julie (Reena Roy) is a childhood friend of Vicky's who is in love with Vicky, but he only sees her as a friend.
When Johnny discovers this, he and Julie sacrifice their own love to ensure that Vicky and Asha get together. At the same time, Johnny's younger brother, Sunny (Rishi Kapoor) has fallen for Asha's younger sister, Kim (Kim). Kim and Asha also happen to be the daughters of Jaggi, the man Namdev supposedly murdered.
Namdev returns soon after and plans to take revenge against Damu and Raghu for separating him from his two sons, Johnny and Sunny. The lives of all these characters become intertwined into becomes a poignant story about love, friendship, sacrifice, deceit, revenge and above all, destiny.