Manjhli Babu and Chhote Babu were the two brothers who owned, ‘Badi Haveli’ the ancestral property that had come down to them through earlier generations. Both, in keeping the traditions of the family, were given a life of lethargy and philandering, where, wine flowed and the tinkling anklets of ‘nautch’ girls were preferred to the endearing smiles of the wives. Chhore Babu’s wife, chhoti Bahu, a middle class woman accepted by the landed aristocracy in marriage for her great beauty, could not, however reconcile herself to the libertine habits of her spouse.

Deprived as she was of the love and presence her husband, chhoti Bahu’s spirit rose in revolt. But tradition, as much as the high walls of ‘Badi Haveli’ effectively checked her from giving expression to it. Even if the Lords of Badi Haveli spent their nights in orgies of drinking and philandering and their days in flying pigeons and catching up on lost sleep, there arrived at the mansion a village simpleton, Bhootnath, a relation of an employee of Badi Haveli- Master Babu. In search of a job, he soon found one in the Mohini Sindoor factory as a clerk. In the factory, he came across Jaba, the sweet daughter of the owner, Subinoy Babu. The rustic habits of Bhootnath touched the tender feelings of Jaba, in no time.

Having read that the applications of ‘Mohini Sindoor’ would bring back for her the errant husband, chhoti Bahu, sent for Bhootnath to get her the Sindoor. Bhootnath soon emerged as her confidante and sympathiser. To bring her errant husband back to her, chhoti Bahu, set an example of sacrifice that left everyone in the Badi Haveli stunned with surprise. It will leave you too, stunned when you see ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam.’