Retired police officer Thakur Baldev Singh gets two convicts, Jaidev and Veeru, to capture Gabbar Singh, a bandit chief who has been terrorizing the small village of Ramgarh. Gabbar massacred Thakur's entire family and even had his arms cut off. Unable to take revenge himself, Thakur Baldev Singh recruits Veeru and Jaidev, both small time crooks. Both agree to capture Gabbar Singh alive and hand him over to Baldev Singh. Things do not go as planned: Veeru falls for the local horse-carriage driver Basanti, and Jai starts to have romantic feelings for Baldev Singh's widowed daughter-in-law Radha. To make matters worse, Gabbar has sworn to kill both Jai and Veeru, and he holds Basanti hostage to lure them to him. But Jaidev and Veeru are so clever that no bandit can outwit the two.