Sashikant is quite a playboy, while at med school. He lives with his widowed father, a retired Judge in a palatial home. The judge (Ashok Kumar) indulges him, with a houseful of servants, a motor car and all the luxuries money can buy; Ravikant is a brilliant student with a very close friend who is rusticated from med school for poor grades. Gowri (Rekha) is the housekeeper, who not only manages the servants and logistics of the household; she also ensures that Umakant follows doctors orders for medication and abstinence from sugar and smoking, firmly but with affection. She is after all, the daughter of Umakant's childhood friend, Narayan Singh (AK Hangal) a poor school teacher, and has known the family since childhood. She holds integrity and high moral values precious, and when she discovers Ravi is dating multiple women concurrently, she arranges for a rendezvous that has all but Ravi laughing, who is embarrassed enough to reform himself. The movie takes us through the ups and downs of four marriages, single parenting some colourful exchanges between a daughter of rich parents, a mother-in-law, the poor relatives of a rich father-in-law. The burning social question of whether a mother or a father is more successful as a single parent, is left for the viewer to decide.