The movie tells the story of a middle aged muslim woman gazala(shabana azmi), who is ill treated by her husband and sent back to her parent's home, just because she is unable to give birth to a son. Gazala does have a daughter salma(rajeshwari sachdev). The plot revolves around gazala's stay at her mother's home and the problems faced by the women of the house, being her mother and sisters in law. The film is a beauitiful description of the problems faced by women in the name of fertility, or in a different sense the urge to have a male child, especially in rural India. Shyam Benegal provides a masterpiece, reflecting on the sorrowful plight of rural Indian women. The irony lies in the point where the movie begins with a scene which shows a bull being brought to impregnate a buffalo. Five different women, each with a different story depicting the harsh realities of a woman's life.