Nandini (Karisma Kapoor) is a delicate young girl raised like a princess in Canada by her two doting uncles. She finds her ideal man in Shekhar (Sanjay Kapoor) whom she marries regardless of his family background. Soon, Nandini gives birth to a son, Raja.
Things take a sudden turn after Shekhar visits his native village in India to see his ailing mother. Nandini and Raja accompany him.
The harsh realities of impoverished India strike Nandini and Raja as they undergo a long, roughshod journey through the countryside to finally arrive in a fortress-like haveli in Shekhar's native village. But Nandini's misery is far from over.
While she gets a heart-warming reception from her mother-in-law (Dipti Naval), her tyrannical father-in-law Narsimha (Nana Patekar) refuses to accept a modern girl as his bahu. However, Narsimha wants to take his grandson Raja under his wing.
Nandini takes stoically Narsimha's insults and his attempt to separate Raja from her. Her only hope is to return to Canada one day with Shekhar and Raja. Little does she know that the day she so much longs for will never come and she will have to fight her father-in-law's hegemony alone?
Rest of the film shows Nadini's transition from a vulnerable girl to an audacious mother who is willing to kill to save her only son!