Sharda (Mala Sinha) is the only daughter of a wealthy educationist and founder of Sharda College, Dubeyji (Nazir Hussain), where she is student. Dubeyji hires a young man to take up the position of Professor in this College. The young man’s name is Vijay Kumar (Guru Dutt), who makes a lasting and good impression on beautiful Sharda, and both fall in love. Vijay Kumar’s mom (Leela Chitnis), and sister, Uma (Lata Sinha) live in a small house in a far off village, and are not wealthy. This affair between a professor and a student spreads like hot fire through the college campus, and angers Dubeyji, so much so that he asks the College Principal, Vidya Ratan, to dismiss Vijay Kumar. But Vidya Ratan is supportive of Vijay Kumar and Sharda, and convinces Dubeyji that it will in everyone’s best interest if both get married. Dubeyji relectantly agrees, and the two get married and return to Vijay Kumar’s home. Once there, Vijay Kumar is approached by the Arts College Principal (David), who offers him a job at his college. Soon there is more good news when Vijay Kumar’s sister Uma (Lata Sinha) gets married to her boyfriend, Sukhiram (Deven Varma), son of the comically parsimonious, Dukhiram (Om Prakash). One day while making preparations for College Day festivities, Vijay falls off the roof of the college building and is hospitalized. The doctors are able to save his life, but warn the family that Vijay’s heart condition has been weakened, and he can never be subjected to any stressful situation, including a sexual relationship with his wife. But the lure of the human flesh proves to be too much for Vijay Kumar, and as soon as he recovers he wants to consumate his marriage with Sharda, who must either give in to the attraction of the flesh herself, or live the life of a celibate, or alternatively separate from Vijay and marry Shankar (Feroz Khan), the young man her dad had wanted to marry in the first place.