Shanichari has lived a life of unending misfortune. Her father died shortly after she was born, her mother ran away with a rich lover, she married an alcoholic, and has no hope for the future for her handicapped son. Despite all of this she has never cried. Her inability to cry causes problems when she is called to become a professional mourner, or a rudaali. She meets Bhinkni, a more experienced rudaali, and falls in love with him.