Anwar

Architect and Poet Salim Ahmed Salim lives in Nizamuddin, India, along with his widowed mother. He re-locates to Lucknow where he is employed with Shirazi & Company. He instructs her not to leave the house, and when she persists, he sells the house and decides to re-locate to Lahore, Pakistan. Salim attempts to stop them but Hamid assaults him and leaves him senseless. Salim does recover but takes to alcohol and a Courtesan named Phoolrani in a big way. His mother intervenes, and compels him to get married to their new neighbor's daughter, Sahira, which he reluctantly does. Now trapped in a marriage with a woman he does not love, Salim continues to frequent Phoolrani's brothel, with hopes of being re-united with his estranged sweetheart - only to find that the seemingly demure Sahira will not let go of him that easily.

Durga and Vikram Singh have been married for years. Vikram has taken to crime in a big way, and as a result has antagonized a rival gangster, Jaggi. Durga gives birth to twins, and Jaggi steals one of them, and sells him to a bootlegger, Pascal. Durga is upset when she finds her son missing, but is devastated when Vikram abandons her. With a lot of difficulty, Durga brings up her son, Kishan, and has given up on finding her other son. Kishan has grown up and is now a dedicated police officer. On the other hand, Pascal has exploited Amit, kept him illiterate, doing petty crime, and alcoholic. This gets him in confrontation with Kishan, but ironically the two settle their differences and become fast friends. Vikram is still alive, and is not aware of his two sons and wife being alive.