Wealthy, powerful and influential Seth Dharamdas leads a financially secure life in a palatial mansion. He is known to come to the aid of all people who are beyond any hope of assistance, and this leads to him being known as "Dharmatma". But Seth Dharamdas does have a number of skeletons in his closet, and a parallel life as a gangster. The only person Dharamdas hates and fears is none other than his very own son, Ranbir, who has sworn that he will never compromise with his father's dark career, and threatens to expose him. Dharamdas has never conceded surrender or defeat at the hands of any mortal, and will never even consider to do so - even if this means the death of Ranbir.

This saint film is about Sant Eknath (1533-99), a major Marathi poet, author of the Eknathi Bhagvata and numerous abhangas evoking folk poetry, especially the bharuda form of solo performances. The film focuses on Eknath's humanitarian defence of the 'untouchable' castes. Opposed by the evil Mahant (Kelkar/Chandramohan), Eknath becomes a social outcast when he arranges to have the lower-caste people fed before the Brahmins during a prayer meeting at his house, compounding the offence by going to eat in one of their houses. The drama is heightened by Eknath's son Hari Pandit (Kale) who joins the ranks of the opposition. The happy ending occurs when the film transcends the food motif and Eknath defends himself by reading his poems to the Pradayananda Shastri of Kashi.

Based in Mumbai, Raja (Arjun) lives a violent yet poor lifestyle along with his father, Banwarilal. He meets with and comes to the rescue of Madurai/Mahendrapur-based belle, Mahalakshmi/Madhumita (Jyotika), and both fall in love with each other. When she returns home, her dad (Ashish Vidyarthi) finds that she is in love with Raja, instantly approves of him, and asks her to invite him, which she does. Raja accordingly arrives to meet her family - and it is this arrival that will pit him against goons dispatched by none other than Mahalakshmi's dad, who wants him dead - at any and all costs.