Vinod (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir (Ravi Baswani) are two professional photographers trying to start a photo studio. The first real assignment that they get, from the activist magazine Khabardar (literally meaning beware), draws them into the shady world of Bombay real estate. They discover that one of the biggest builders in Bombay, Tarneja, is trying to bribe Municipal Commissioner D'Mello (Satish Shah) into giving him a bridge contract. Meanwhile D'Mello is negotiating with Tarneja's arch rival Ahuja (Om Puri). The contract is finally awarded to a third person.