After the retirement of his dad (Krishan Dhawan), the responsibility is on Bharat (Manoj Kumar) to look after his Delhi-based family. He has two younger college-going brothers, Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Deepak (Dheeraj Kumar) and a sister of marriageable age, Champa (Meena T.). Although Bharat is a college graduate, the only work he can find is as a low-paid singer, much to the frustration of his girlfriend, Sheetal (Zeenat Aman). Meanwhile, Vijay has turned to crime as a last resort to provide for the family, but after an argument with Bharat, he leaves home to join the army.
Sheetal starts working as a secretary for rich businessman Mohan Babu (Shashi Kapoor) and Mohan becomes attracted to her. She becomes attracted to Mohan but is more interested in his wealth and luxury. She loves Bharat but cannot contemplate a life in poverty. Bharat finally finds a job as a builder but starts to realise that Sheetal is slowly drifting away from him. Soon he loses his job after the government takes over the building site and his financial problems increase further. When Mohan proposes marriage to Sheetal, she accepts, leaving Bharat heartbroken. After losing his love, Bharat also loses his father, which devastates him. Frustrated, he burns his diploma on his father's funeral pyre.
Meanwhile, Champa has found a suitor, but Bharat has no money to pay for the wedding and it cannot go ahead. Depressed at the state of his life, Bharat soon finds salvation by helping a poor girl, Tulsi (Moushumi Chatterjee), who lives in poverty but gets by. He also makes friends with Sardar Harnam Singh (Prem Nath) who comes to his rescue when he attempts to save Tulsi from a gang of hoodlums. He then receives an offer from a corrupt businessman named Nekiram (Madan Puri) who persuades Bharat to do his illegal activities so he and his family will come out of poverty and be wealthy, for which he accepts.
(Spoiler Alert)
Deepak joins the Police force. Bharat, who is working for Nekiram, decides to inform the police about his Malpractices. Nekiram find sour and frames Bharat and Deepak instead. Deepak is the police officer appointed for arresting Bharat.
Bharat and Vijay join forces to stop Nekiram. During this conflict Sheetal, who has already realized her mistake, sacrifices her life.
Bharat, Vijay, Deepak, Mohan Babu and Sardar Harnam Singh have Nekiram and his troops jailed in the end. Bharat sees Sheetal in Tulsi and accepts her.