Acclaimed director Bimal Roy's debut feature about a struggling writer established him as an important Bollywood voice through its realistic portrayal of the simmering class conflicts in pre-independence India. Anup (Radhamohan Bhattacharya) loses his job writing speeches for a wealthy industrialist and decides to focus on finishing his novel. But when his former boss steals Anup's unpublished book, he throws himself into socialist politics.