Kishan and Bishan are childhood friends. Kishan is an orphan but who is self-sufficient and hard-working, while Bishan comes from an affluent background. The friendship between the two is extremely strong and is the bane of Bishan's uncle who has his eyes on his widowed sister's wealth. In a bid to separate the two friends the uncle manipulates his sister into sending Bishan away to the city and then abroad for further education.
When the two friends re-unite years later, Bishan (Amjad Khan) discovers that Kishan (Amitabh Bachchan) has a great voice. Bishan is now a successful businessman and he wants to promote Kishan's singing talent. Kishan goes to the city with his friend, where Bishan asks Komal (Neetu Singh) to groom him to be a performer and a gentleman. Kishan tries to get expelled from the process by being uncooperative and disruptive.
In the meantime, Bishan discovers that the family wealth has been systematically looted over the last 18 years by the uncle and his son. He is forced to borrow by mortgaging his remaining assets in order to ensure that Kishan becomes a successful singer. This causes a major rift between Bishan and his wife who is convinced that Kishan will turn his back on his friend if he were to ever succeed.
Kishan's debut concert is a huge success and he goes on to donate the proceeds of his earning and consequent record deals to rid his friend Bishan of his many mortgages. In the process, he also hopes help woo his estranged sister and lovable nephew (Bishan's 10 year old son) in law back into the house.
Kishan proceeds to becomes a star and Komal (Neetu Singh) - his trainer professes her love for him. Bishan in the meanwhile falls into a conspiracy further set by his treacherous uncle (Jeevan) and cousin (Ranjeet). He is kidnapped alongside several hostages - primarily children on his shipping vessel, tortured and forced to sign a confession that all the misdeeds have been done by him. Bishan loses his mental stability and goes into shock
He is then thrown into an asylum after he loses his mind and suffers from Amnesia. Kishan pretends to be mad and admits himself in the asylum by tricking the authorities and saves his friend by reviving his memory successfully by feeding him rotis as he used to when they were children.
The climax follows the typical action confrontation formula reminiscent of films in that era where there are big explosions and the heroes single handedly take on hoardes of goons. The movie ends with the children - hostages being saved, the family uniting and the treacherous mastermind (Ranjeet) being sent to jail.