The film is widely considered to be a milestone for its genre, earning praise from critics for its direction, the story and music.

The family refuses to allow Madhu to marry Ratan, who is engaged to another girl, after he denies the claims made by Jaswant.

He immediately refuses, stating that an unmarried pregnant girl would ruin their family's reputation by becoming their daughter-in-law.

Jaswant leaves the village to sell their farm and see if they can move to Delhi, where their other sister Parvati lives with her husband Bhagwandas and son Shyam.

Jaswant moves to Delhi with Dhanraj's wife, Saroj, and their son, Raj, staying at Parvati's house.

After being released from prison, Dhanraj receives a letter from his son Raj, an ardent music lover who has completed his education at Rajput College.

In a twist of fate, Raj goes to Dhanakpur with Shyam to file a business case against Raghuvir's elder son Thakur Randhir Singh.

He then finds out from his manager, he was Dhanraj's son who came to file a business case against him and tells his mother and Rashmi which shocks them.

Saddened, she and Raj exchange an emotional goodbye after he admits that he tried to forget her after learning her identity long ago but couldn't because he is madly in love with her, which shocks her.

Back in Delhi, they continue to meet in secret, even after Raj reluctantly promises his family he will forget her when they confront him about loving an enemy.

He then arranges her wedding to Roop Singh and warns Jaswant, Saroj, and Parvati at their house that he will kill Raj if he tries to see her again.

After Randhir beats him up and throws him out of their house when he warns him, Raj and his father realize they cannot separate the two lovers no matter what.

At Rashmi's engagement to Roop Singh, Raj is heartbroken and cries in his father's arms out of shame for loving their enemy.

However, with the help of her friend Kavita, Rashmi leaves home, and with Shyam's assistance, Raj prepares to elope with her.

Furious, Randhir posts Raj's picture in the newspapers offering a huge reward if he is found but doesn't share Rashmi's name thinking of the bad name their family will get.

When Randhir learns their whereabouts, he, his brother-in-law and his nephew Balwant hire killers to kill Raj.

The film is a tale of unrequited love and familial opposition, with Khan portraying Raj, a "clean-cut, wholesome boy-next-door".

[12] Nasir initially wanted to cast Shammi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar as the family patriarchs, but Mansoor refused to work with them as they were 'too senior.

Sung by Narayan and picturised on Aamir Khan, the full title of the song is "Papa Kehte Hain Bada Naam Karega",[17] which translates to "My dad says that I'll make him proud!".

[6] Prior to release, Nasir Hussain reportedly sold the film's music rights to T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar for only ₹400,000[21] ($30,000).

[22] At the 34th Filmfare Awards, Anand–Milind won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, Majrooh Sultanpuri was nominated for Best Lyricist for "Papa Kehte Hain", and Udit Narayan won Best Male Playback Singer for "Papa Kehte Hain".

[29] The film was remade in Telugu as Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi, which marked the debut for Pawan Kalyan.

It was also remade in Sinhala as Dalu lana gini starring Damith Fonseka and Dilhani Ekanayake.