The story begins with Dr Rakesh (Vijayendra Ghatge) joining the Maharaja Yeshwantrao Chikitsalaya. He goes to meet his ex-flame Sudha (Neeta Mehta) at her place where she stays with her husband Saroj Kumar (Naseeruddin Shah) and daughter Aastha (Manisha Munshi). Saroj and Rakesh become good friends but Rakesh is sad to meet his ex-flame Sudha as someone else's wife. He goes in flashback mode and recalls the days when they were romancing and planning to marry. When Rakesh asks Sudha's hand from her mother (Nadira), she mentions that she had been a prostitute all her life and would his parents accept Sudha, being the daughter of a prostitute as their bahu. If they accept Sudha then she has no problem. Rakesh assures her that there will be no hassles in that but later when Rakesh meets Sudha, he informs her that his parents refused to accept her as his bride but he is willing to marry her. She spurns his offer saying that without his parents blessings, they cannot marry each other.

Rakesh visits Sudha and Saroj frequently and finds that Saroj, who is a chain-smoker and a writer by profession, has coughing bouts very often. He advises Saroj to get admitted for 3 days in his hospital so that he can carry out various tests to ascertain his ailment. Saroj gets admitted though not willingly and finds the hospital confinement, injections and medicines very disgusting. The test reports confirm that he has lung cancer and that too in an advanced stage. When Rakesh breaks this news to Sudha and Saroj, they are shattered. Rakesh assures them that he will do his best to treat Saroj. Sister Mazy (Farida Jalal) is very popular and active in the hospital but has to leave daily at 6 in the evening to meet her boy-friend. One day, she is admitted in the same hospital due to gangrene in her knee. Her leg has to be amputated. One of the patients, Nandlal (Om Puri) is a chain beedi-smoker and is always up to mischief along with fellow patients. He keeps moving around the hospital asking beedis and matches from others. He befriends Saroj and borrows magazines from him for reading. In between, a hooch tragedy occurs and several victims are brought for admission in the hospital. There is a sudden spurt of serious patients and their kith and kin. Several die during treatment and the atmosphere in the hospital is one of grief, trauma and doom. Among the victims is Saroj's close friend Aatish Indori (Bharat Kapoor). Saroj is aggrieved to see his friend die in his arms.

As time passes, Saroj's condition worsens and he repeatedly asks Rakesh to poison him