Lucknow-based Zeenat Jahan Begum lives with her widower father, Nawab Mirza Sultan, and Kariban Bua. Despite losing their riches, they rent part of their mansion, pretend to be wealthy, eat Kichdi and call it Dal Pulav. She is in love with Yusuf and would like to marry him. When her father arranges her marriage, she assumes it is with Yusuf, but is in for a shock when she finds that her groom is wealthy Nawab Sikander Mirza. Dressed as a bride she goes to seek shelter with Yusuf but is told by his maternal uncle, Mir Qurban Ali, that Yusuf does not love her and has re-located to Allahabad for three months. She returns home but her disgraced and enraged father asks her to leave. She then attempts to go to her in-laws but is unable to speak freely with her ‘husband’. Devastated she turns to the Dhargah, passes out, and when awakens - finds herself in a brothel run by Naziran Bai. Quite unknown to her, both her father and husband are pretending all is well in order to keep their families’ honor intact. Things change rapidly when she will be asked to go to her in-laws as a temporary ‘wife’ in order to facilitate the marriage of her sister-in-law, Suraiya.