Shanno (Nutan) is devoted to Lord Krishna, also known as Kanhaiya. Consequently, she often wanders off alone in the woods, dancing and singing to the flute notes of her Kanhaiya. She accidentally meets Kanhaiya (Raj Kapoor), the village drunk, and falls in his arms, assuming him to be her "Kanhaiya," the Lord Krishna.[1] The gossip spreads that Kanhaiya and Shanno are having an affair, and in order to stay in the same village, they must get married. Shanno, still under the misconception regarding Kanhaiya, is thrilled and gives her consent. During the marriage, Shanno is shocked when she realises who "Kanhaiya" really is—the town drunk and idler who has taken advantage of her love for Lord Krishna and now insists on marrying her. What the Village Panchayat does when Shanno refuses to marry Kanhaiya, and how she is even ready to light herself on the funeral pyre to prove her piety, and how they cope when the village is swamped with plague, forms the basis for the rest of the story. At the end, Shanno realizes he really is Kanhaiya.