Taut and thrilling, this offbeat suspense drama follows the twists and turns in the life of a thief named Shyam (Amitabh Bachchan), who is a professional burglar. He decides to go straight after the death of his mentor (Madan Puri).
On the run from police for having committed a series of robberies in the past, he ends up in a village and he comes across a poet named Deepak (also Amitabh Bachchan) and comes to his aid. Taking advantage of the fact that Deepak is his lookalike he decides to steal his identity by killing him. He backs out of killing him however when he discovers Deepak is already dying of an illness.
After Deepak's death he decides to steal his identity and informs the police that Deepak is actually the thief, Shyam. However, a police inspector (Ajit Khan) who had tried to capture Shyam after he committed a robbery becomes suspicious that Shyam is actually alive and masquerading as the poet, Deepak. Will the truth be exposed?