| Director | Pradeep Sarkar |
|---|---|
| Box office | ₹32.6 crore |
The story takes place in 1962 in Kolkata. As the credits roll, scenes from erstwhile Calcutta are displayed along with the narrator's (Amitabh Bachchan) introduction to the era. On the night of his arranged marriage to Gayatri Tantiya, (the daughter of one of his father Navinchandra Rai's business connections), Shekhar has images of his childhood friend, Lalita, calling him by his name flashing through his mind.
Meanwhile, downstairs, musical celebrations begin as Shekhar meets Vasundhara, a widow from his neighbourhood, who is thankful to her son-in-law, Girish (Sanjay Dutt), for supporting their family after the death of her husband, Gurcharan. Lalita, who is present there, playfully confronts Shekhar as to why he is being indifferent to her. Shekhar, believing she is married to Girish, admonishes her for speaking so in spite of being married.
An angry Shekhar comes back home to play a favourite tune from the past on his piano. The flashback shows a young Shekhar playing Rabindranath Tagore’s tune on his piano while young Lalita and Koel are around. Lalita, with her parents having died in a car accident, lives with Gurcharan’s family. Koel is her cousin whereas Charu is her neighbour. As this scene flashes across Shekhar’s mind, he sings a song full of sadness and loss. As time flies, they grow up to become close friends. The rebellious and musically inclined Shekhar spends his days playing the music of Rabindranath Tagore or Elvis Presley and composing his own songs with Lalita rather than becoming part of his shrewd father's business. Part of this rebellion involves resistance to meeting Gayatri Tantiya, the beautiful but devious daughter of a wealthy industrialist, whom his father would like Shekhar to marry. Meanwhile, Girish, a steel tycoon from London, makes a dramatic entry into Charu’s house. Girish seems smitten by Lalita while Koel is by Girish. Shekhar is visibly jealous of Lalita’s close friendship with Girish.
One day, a shocked Lalita, who is employed at the office of Navinchandra Rai, stumbles upon a project to refurbish and sell Gurcharan’s ancestral haveli (palatial house) as a hotel. On an earlier occasion, Gurcharan had borrowed money from Rai after leaving his haveli as collateral to him. She understands that if the money is not repaid in a few months, Rai would take over the property. She immediately thinks of asking Shekhar for monetary help. Circumstances prevent this, and Girish, upon realising this, alleviates their problem by making Gurcharan his business partner. Gurcharan repays the debt and the turn of events prompts Shekhar to think why Lalita chose to ask Girish for money instead of him. On one auspicious night, Shekhar and Lalita exchange garlands and consummate their "marriage" unbeknownst to anyone else.
While Shekhar is off to Darjeeling on a business trip, Rai violently thunders at Lalita about the loss of his hotel project, embarrassing and humiliating her. Rai gets a wall built between his and Gurcharan's house symbolising the end of their association. Unable to digest this, Gurcharan suffers a heart attack while Shekhar's mother, Rajeshwari, also falls ill. Upon Shekhar's return, Rai informs him of the ill-health of Rajeshwari and Gurcharan and then viciously poisons his mind about Lalita and indicates that Lalita married Girish for his money. Shekhar is disgusted to hear of the marriage and in his anger he hits Lalita, while humiliating her like his father had done. Meanwhile, Girish assists Gurcharan's family and takes them to London to allow for better care and treatment for Gurcharan’s heart. Gurcharan eventually dies anyway and upon the family's return from London, Shekhar assumes that Girish and Lalita are married and agrees to marry Gayatri.
The film returns to the night of Shekhar's marriage when Girish hands him the ownership papers of Gurcharan's haveli. He shocks Shekhar by telling him that he married Koel because Lalita rejected his marriage proposal. Shekhar confronts Rai over the ownership papers and for poisoning his mind against Lalita, while revealing he is already "married" to her. He then symbolically breaks down the wall separating the two families and brings Lalita to his home as his bride, much to the delight of Rajeshwari.