Raj Kumar (Raj Kapoor) is a painter by trade, but unable to earn a living, and unable to pay rent to his kind-hearted but foul-mouthed landlady, Mrs. D’sa (Lalita Pawar). One day Raj finds a wallet containing money, and he returns it to the owner, Ramnath (Motilal). Pleased with his honesty, Ramnath employs Raj in his office. Raj meets with Ramnath’s maidservant, Asha (Nutan), and soon both fall in love. This all ends when Raj finds out that Asha is really Aarti, the daughter of his employer. He then alienates himself from his employer and his daughter, and looks after his ailing landlady. Unfortunately, she passes away suddenly. The police conduct a post-mortem, and as a result find out that Mrs. D’sa was poisoned. Raj is taken in for questioning, and is subsequently arrested and imprisoned.