Pakeezah

Nargis works as a tawaif in the Muslim quarter of Lucknow and loves Shahbuddin. Hakim Saab, the family patriarch, rejects the idea of a daughter-in-law from the tawaif milieu. Despite her longing, their relationship is doomed by entrenched opposition.

Dejected, Nargis escapes to a nearby cemetery and gives birth to a daughter. She dies there, leaving a dying request in a letter for Shahbuddin to come for his child. The letter anchors the tragedy that unfolds later.

Nawabjaan, Nargis's sister, discovers a jewel similar to one Nargis owned and follows it to the cemetery. There she finds Nargis's body and her newborn daughter, whom she takes back to her kotha. This marks the daughter's entry into the world of performance instead of a family.

When Nargis's belongings are sold, a man finds her letter and delivers it to Shahbuddin. He eventually tracks down Sahibjaan, now grown and working as a tawaif at Nawabjaan's brothel. The discovery sets the stage for their reunion and the mounting tension.

Shahbuddin locates Sahibjaan at Nawabjaan's brothel and hopes to claim her as his daughter. Nawabjaan resists, seeking to keep Sahibjaan for her own business interests, and plans to relocate with her to another town.

On a train journey, a young man enters Sahibjaan's compartment and leaves a note that speaks to her beauty. Reading it later, Sahibjaan feels an affinity with the note's author and begins to fall for him. The note foreshadows Salim's role in her life.

Nawabjaan's pursuit leads Sahibjaan onto a river voyage, where she is carried away and ends up at Salim's riverside tent after a boat incident. There she reads Salim's diary and learns that he wrote the note. To protect herself, she feigns amnesia about her profession.

Salim and Sahibjaan dream of eloping for a peaceful life, but Sahibjaan's profession casts a shadow over their plans. Salim, under family pressure, decides to marry someone else and invites Sahibjaan to perform a mujra at his wedding. The arrangement pits love against duty and social convention.

During the mujra, Nawabjaan recognises Shahbuddin and calls him to witness the irony: his own daughter dancing in his brother's house of pleasure. The moment binds the fates of Shahbuddin, Sahibjaan, and Salim in a cruel twist of fate.

Shahbuddin's father attempts to shoot Nawabjaan to silence her, but instead kills Shahbuddin who tries to protect her. With his dying breath, Shahbuddin asks Salim to marry Sahibjaan, turning tragedy into a final vow.

Salim's doli finally arrives at Sahibjaan's brothel, fulfilling Shahbuddin's last wish. The event binds the lovers in a fate tempered by loss, yet with a glimmer of hopeful union. The story closes on a note of resilience amidst tragedy.