Rajaram (Naseeruddin Shah), a simple, caring, warm human being, lives in a chawl, in Mumbai. He secretly loves Sandhya (Deepti Naval), a pretty, homely, neighbour, but is tongue tied to express his love. When his childhood friend, Basu (Farooq Shaikh) walks in one fine day, everything turns topsy turvy. With his smooth talk he wins over the chawl people, finagles himself to a job at Rajaram's office as his superior, seduces Sandhya, and when the going gets hot, he leaves Sandhya stranded at the marriage altar, leaving Rajaram to face the music.