Jaal

Nandu lives in a small town with his widowed mom, Paro. He is friendly with two young girls, Farida and Kamli. He is depressed when Kamli's dad becomes ill and she and her mom re-locate to Ambala. Years later, Farida and Nandu have grown up and continue to be friends. Then they get the news that Kamli's dad has passed away, and they are to return back. Initially they do not recognize each other, but when they do, both fall in love and want to marry. When Paro goes to meet with Kamli's maternal uncle, she is shunned, humiliated because they are poor and Nandu is unemployed, & considered a trouble-maker.

After falling for a cunning landlord’s scheme, a farmer (Balraj Sahni) and his young son (Ratan Kumar) travel to Calcutta in search of work to save money and reclaim their ancestral land.

In Calcutta at the turn of the century, two families (one wealthier than the other but both belonging to the same caste) live in adjoining properties. Their respective patriarchs fall out over the repayment of a loan and the intervention of a member of a lower caste in the families' financial arrangements. The rift causes much heartache to the younger members of the families, two of whom have secretly plighted their troth to each other.

Though from India, this tale rings of Western familiarity -- especially of the Old West. When a beautiful courtesan is kidnapped by a burly bandit, the baddie gets far more than he had anticipated; he finds himself falling for her. Unfortunately for the couple, the authorities catch up with him and their short-lived romance ends in tragedy.