Architect and Poet Salim Ahmed Salim lives in Nizamuddin, India, along with his widowed mother. He re-locates to Lucknow where he is employed with Shirazi & Company. He instructs her not to leave the house, and when she persists, he sells the house and decides to re-locate to Lahore, Pakistan. Salim attempts to stop them but Hamid assaults him and leaves him senseless. Salim does recover but takes to alcohol and a Courtesan named Phoolrani in a big way. His mother intervenes, and compels him to get married to their new neighbor's daughter, Sahira, which he reluctantly does. Now trapped in a marriage with a woman he does not love, Salim continues to frequent Phoolrani's brothel, with hopes of being re-united with his estranged sweetheart - only to find that the seemingly demure Sahira will not let go of him that easily.
Rishi Kapoor
as Salim Ahmed Salim
Padmini Kolhapure
as Salma A. Mirza
Govardhan Asrani
as Jamal
Iftekhar
as Akhtar Mirza
Deepti Naval
as Sahira H. Khan / Sahira S. Salim
Om Prakash
as Nawab
Yogeeta Bali
as Phoolrani
Agha
as Shirazi
Jalal Agha
as Qawaal
Vijay Arora
as Qawaal
Mumtaz Begum
as Akhtar's mom
Leela Mishra
as Badi Bi
