Unquestionably the gem in Dutt's filmography, Pyaasa is a dark and mesmerising classic, and one of the most romantic films ever.

Vijay (Dutt) is a talented poet. But -- as is the fate of wordsmiths ahead of their time -- publishers don't want to touch him. His brothers throw him out of the house after he realises they have sold his poems to a junk dealer.

While hunting for his poems, Vijay meets Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman), a streetwalker who falls in love with him. Vijay, trying to disengage himself, goes to his college reunion, where he meets his former sweetheart, Meena (Mala Sinha). Former because Meena conveniently left him for Ghosh, a flourishing publisher.

Ghosh hires Vijay, but as a mere clerk, while sadistically refusing to publish his poems.

After Vijay is fired, he offers his coat to a beggar. The beggar dies in a train accident, and, because of the coat, it is assumed that Vijay is dead.

Gulabo convinces Ghosh to publish Vijay's work posthumously. Vijay, stunned at the publication, tries in vain to announce that he is alive. He only succeeds in getting himself confined to a mental asylum.

In a compelling and touching climax, Vijay escapes and attends his own death anniversary gathering.