Plot

When a homeless and orphaned young man finds work in the house of a wealthy man, he falls in love with the daughter of that wealthy man. But things start to change a lot thereafter.

As an orphan on the streets in Shimla, young Sikandar (Amitabh Batchchan) has no one to care of him. For a short while he works for Mr. Ramnath, Little Kamna Ramnath (Rakhee Gulzar) gives Sikandar the kind of consideration and friendship no one has ever before given him. After that Ramnath leave Shimla for Bombay, Sikandar follows them there. Eventually Fatima, a young widow who works for Ramnath, adopts Sikandar. At Kamna's birthday party Ramnath mistakes Sikandar for a thief and has him thrown out. Little Kamna turns against Sikandar and wants to have nothing further to do with him. At Fatima's grave, a Darvesh (Kader Khan) advice young Sikandar how to deal with the realities of life. Young Sikandar works hard and grows up to be a wealthy and respected young man. Kamna, who stills wants to have nothing to do with Sikandar, is unaware that he has been helping her all along by paying for her handicapped father's medical bills. Sikandar meets a dancing girl, Zohra Bai (Rekha) who falls in love with him at first sight, but Sikandar still loves Kamna. Dilawar (Amjad Khan), a vengeful lover of Zohra, declares Sikandar to be his enemy. When a young lawyer, Vishaul (Vinod Khanna) saves Sikandar's life, Sikandar takes him in to his home and treats him more than a brother. Vishaul who knows nothing of Sikandar's feeling for Kamna. Becomes Ramnath's assistant and falls in love with Kamna. Before Sikandar can declare his love to Kamna, his life long dream is shattered when he see her in Vishaul's arm. Sikandar feels he has been betrayed by his best friend and by his love.—hEmRaJ (gavin_coolhgr@hotmail.com)

A homeless and orphaned young boy roams the streets of Simla; studying where his next meal will come from. He gets employed by a multi-millionaire Ramanath and is fascinated by his daughter, Kaamna who treats him with love and tender care but this does not last long as the family decides to migrate to Bombay throwing the lad's life back to square one. He is then adopted by a poor woman, Fatima who provides him with a name Sikandar, food, shelter and a sister, Mehroo. Shortly after Sikandar gets to find out the where-about of the family he once worked for and goes to their house to get united with them only to be thrown out and accused of theft. Then Fatima passes away leaving Sikandar with the responsibility of raising Mehroo. Years later Sikandar and Mehroo has matured; Sikandar amasses wealth by assisting the police in arresting smugglers. He still remembers Kaamna from his childhood and in order to stay close to her he buys a mansion opposite her house. An attempt to try and meet her proves fertile since he is belittled and shunned by her forcing Sikandar to take to alcohol. He starts to frequent a brothel and catches the eyes of a prostitute, Zohrabai; he also meets and befriend an advocate, Vishal Anand who with his help he manages to write and pen a love-letter to Kaamna. Unfortunately for Sikandar his world comes crushing down when he find Kaamna in the arms of Vishal. He then looks forward for his last hope Zohrabai but as faith have it he find out that she had committed suicide.—gavin (racktoo@hotmail.com)

Orphaned and abused at a very young age, a young boy faces the harsh side of life as he struggles to make a living by slaving day and night. He gets empathy from a little girl, Kaamna, in whose house he works. Her dad, Ramnath, does not like him, and asks him to leave. He is adopted by a Muslim woman, Fatima, who decides to name him Sikander. Shortly thereafter, Fatima dies, leaving young Sikander with the responsibility of looking after her daughter, Mehroo. Years later, Sikander has grown up and amassed a fortune by turning in smuggled goods to the police, and getting generous rewards. He has still not forgotten Kaamna from his childhood. He finds out where she lives, and buys the house right opposite hers. He meets her, but she rejects him. He starts to drink and frequent a prostitute by the name of Zohrabai. With the help of his friend, Advocate Vishal, Sikander writes a love letter to Kaamna. Sikander finds out that she has received the letter, and has acknowledged his love. He is delighted. When he goes to meet her, he finds her in Vishal's arms, and again his world is shattered. He turns his attention to Zohrabai, only to find that she has killed herself. Sikander must now decide to end Vishal's life or kill himself in order to forget Kaamna—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Orphaned and abused at a very young age, a young boy faces the harsh side of life as he struggles to make a living by slaving day and night working in the house of a wealthy man named Ramnath. Ramnath does not like him: it is later revealed that another orphan had taken advantage of his kindness in the past, hence his animosity. Ramnath's daughter Kaamna, however, empathizes with the boy and they form a friendship. Eventually he is adopted by a Muslim woman who also works for Ramnath, Fatima, who decides to name him Sikandar. On the occasion of Kaamna's birthday Sikandar, who had promised to replace one of her dolls which he'd broken, steals an expensive doll from a shop to give as a gift. However, Ramnath refuses to let the boy attend the party, and when Sikandar breaks into Kaamna's room to deliver the doll he is caught and accused of trying to rob the house. He and his mother are banished from Ramnath's home. Shortly thereafter, Fatima dies, leaving young Sikandar with the responsibility of looking after her daughter, Mehroo.

As Sikandar is crying in the graveyard, a fakir comes to him and asks him to embrace the woes of life and find happiness in sadness, for then he would become the conqueror of fate. The sequence cuts to a grown up Sikandar (Amitabh Bachchan) zooming on his motorbike singing his favorite tune. It is then revealed that Sikandar has amassed a fortune by turning in smuggled goods to the police and receiving the reward payouts. With all his wealth he has managed to build an impressive house for himself along with setting up a profitable business.

Sikandar still has not forgotten Kaamna (Raakhee) from his childhood. She and her father have fallen on hard times, and Sikandar is anonymously supporting them. Eventually he gets up the nerve to try to talk to Kaamna, but she believes that he betrayed her family and she snubs him. Sikandar is upset by the refusal and becomes a heavy drinker. He also visits Zohra Begam's (Rekha) Kotha on a regular basis. One night in the bar Sikandar meets up with Advocate Vishal (Vinod Khanna) and a friendship is formed between them when Vishal risks his own life to save Sikandar from a bomb blast. Sikandar introduces Vishal to Ramnath and the two begin to work together.

Zora Begam eventually falls in love with Sikandar, and this in turn angers Dilawar (Amjad Khan) a hard core criminal who loves Zohra and will kill any one who lays an eye on her. Upon finding that Sikandar is frequently visiting Zohra, Dilawar confronts Sikandar and in the ensuing fight is thrashed by him. He swears to kill Sikandar.

Kaamna discovers Sikandar's kindness to her family and goes to thank him. Encouraged, Sikandar tries to profess his love to Kaamna through a love letter. Because Sikandar himself is illiterate, Vishal transcribes the letter for him, but the plan backfires when Kaamna mistakes the letter as actually being from Vishal. Vishal, unaware that Kaamna is the girl Sikandar loves, falls in love with her, and the two begin to date. Sikandar, upon learning this, struggles with his emotions but decides he must sacrifice his love for the sake of his friendship with Vishal.

Sikandar's visits to Zohra Begum have hampered his reputation. His sister's marriage is in dire straits because of this habit. Vishal then visits Zohra and offers to pay her for the rest of his life if she would let Sikandar go. Zohra, upon learning the reason, promises Vishal that she would die before letting Sikandar visit her again. Sikandar arrives at Zohra's in the evening and Zohra refuses to let him in. Sikandar demands entry, and when Zohra is unable to stop him she swallows a diamond and lets Sikandar in, only to die in his arms.

Dilawar in the meanwhile has formed an alliance with Sikandar's arch enemy JD and upon learning of Zohra's death hatches a plan to destroy Sikandar and his family. Dilawar kidnaps Kaamna but Sikandar sees them and follows him. JD and his henchmen kidnap Sikandar's sister Mehroo but Vishal follows them and rescues her.

Sikandar rescues Kaamna and sends her home while he battles Dilawar. In the final battle both Dilawar and Sikandar are mortally wounded, and Sikandar tells Dilawar that he never loved Zohra. A dying Sikandar reaches the wedding of Kaamna and Vishal. Just as the wedding ceremony is completed, Sikandar collapses. His dying words inadvertently reveal his love for Kaamna, and Vishal sings him his favorite song "Life is going to betray you someday...Death is your true love as it'll take you along..." Sikandar's entire life flashes before him and he dies in Vishal's arms just as the song is completed.