Roopa lives in a chawl in a slum with her alcoholic paternal uncle, who sits at home and forces her to go out to work, earn and buy alcohol for him. Her outlook on life is close to despair, and when she finds no work, earns no money, she is severely beaten by him and thrown out of the room. On one such occasion, a neighbor named Raj comes to her aid and even loans her some money. But that only lasts for a short while, and she is back to square one again. She decides to kill herself, but is rescued by an artiste named Ashok, who asks her to model for him. Soon they become fast friends, she even moves into his palatial home, and both earn quite a bit of money from selling the paintings. Then one day Raj re-enters her life, and it was as though her past had come to re-visit. She longed to be with Raj. Ashok is unhappy because of the competition, as he is in love with Roopa and would like to marry her.