Beta 1992

Raju grows up as the sole son of a wealthy landowner, Prem Chaudhary, and he carries a deep ache: his mother died at his birth, leaving him starved for a mother’s love. On his 5th birthday, Prem brings home a new mother, Lakshmi Devi, hoping she will be a kind, caring presence in his life. But the reality is far darker. Lakshmi Devi is driven by greed and a calculated hunger for Prem’s vast fortune and property. She allies with her brother, Totaram, and his wife Mynavati to devise a plan to move all the wealth into Lakshmi Devi’s name.

As the scheme unfolds, Lakshmi Devi and her circle discover a will left by Prem’s first wife, which makes Raju the rightful beneficiary, but only after marriage and with his wife’s joint consent to transfer wealth. This revelation hardens Lakshmi Devi’s resolve: she must keep control and ensure the property stays out of Raju’s hands. She adopts a loving mask to win Raju’s trust, showering him with attention and affection so that he becomes devoted to her and shares her mindset without realizing he is being manipulated.

Naively trusting his step-mother, Raju allows himself to be guided down a path that isolates him from his aging father. Lakshmi Devi subtly robs him of his education, while Prem’s own influence wanes as the family is pulled apart by deceit. Prem’s health worsens, and Lakshmi Devi and Totaram, exploiting the crisis, push Prem into a confinement that further erodes the father–son bond. Raju, uneducated and sheltered, grows up believing every word his step-mother tells him, and the household increasingly tilts in Lakshmi Devi’s favor.

Everything begins to change when Raju meets Saraswati at a wedding and falls deeply in love. The couple marry, and Lakshmi Devi reacts by arranging a second, more suitable yet equally malleable match for Raju in their village, hoping to secure the wealth by ensuring the marriage stays within her influence. Saraswati is not fooled by the surface kindness; she soon uncovers the web of deceit spun by Lakshmi Devi, Totaram, Mynavati, and their accomplices, including Kunika, who appear to be bound by a shared greed rather than any real affection for Raju.

Realizing Saraswati’s true resolve, the couple confronts the deceit together. Saraswati steps up to free Prem from his long years of confinement by taking him to the temple, where his normalcy is reaffirmed. This bold move seeks to restore the rightful balance and challenge Lakshmi Devi’s hold on the household. Saraswati’s steady moral center begins to expose the lies, and she navigates the fragile dynamics of trust within the family, working to realign Raju’s perspective without alienating him.

One pivotal plan centers on stepping away from Lakshmi Devi’s grip: Saraswati, with Prem and their loyal servants Pandu and Champa, orchestrates a scenario intended to make Lakshmi Devi bedridden, thereby transferring the day-to-day power back to Saraswati and Prem. Yet Lakshmi Devi’s stubbornness fuels further plots, and she schemes to thwart Saraswati at every turn. Kunika also becomes entangled in the schemes, complicating loyalties within the household.

When Saraswati becomes pregnant, a tragic moment arises. Shyamlal, Saraswati’s father, brings a box of saffron and sweets as a gesture of celebration, but Lakshmi Devi secretly adds poison to the saffron. She persuades the family to feed Saraswati milk laced with the poisoned saffron. Champa, who witnesses Lakshmi Devi mixing the poison, rushes to warn Saraswati. Saraswati informs Raju, who, blinded by his loyalty to his mother, initially refuses to believe her and even accuses her of plotting against Lakshmi Devi. In a wrenching turn, Raju drinks the poisoned milk to prove Saraswati wrong, coughing up blood as his world begins to crumble.

The truth emerging from the smoke of fear and prejudice shatters many assumptions, and Raju slowly recalls the long history of deception surrounding Lakshmi Devi. Yet even in the face of such betrayal, he cannot fully hate the mother who raised him. His parting words to Lakshmi Devi before the crisis highlight a fragile, complicated love that remains despite the broken trust. Lakshmi Devi, moved by a dawning sense of guilt, begins to confront the consequences of her greed.

As the drama unfolds, Saraswati fights to protect Raju and to secure a just outcome. She pleads that the family honor Prem’s rightful position and insists that the property transfer papers be handled with fairness. A tense confrontation ensues among Lakshmi Devi, Ramesh, Totaram, and Mynavati, testing every bond in the household. In a climactic turn, Raju steps forward to protect Lakshmi Devi from further harm, underscoring a rekindled belief in the possibility of mercy and reconciliation.

Gradually, truth, love, and perseverance lead to a resolution. Raju recovers from the trial and hands over the property papers to Prem, signaling a return to a more rightful order. He bids farewell to his father, Pandu, and Champa, and sets off with Saraswati to leave the home behind. Lakshmi Devi, seeking redemption, rips up the papers and declares that all she desires is “her son,” a sign of genuine remorse. In the end, the family comes back together, and the bond they share is rebuilt in a spirit of forgiveness and unity.