In 1955, a girl named Radha is contemplating running away from her small Indian village of Ajar in the province of Uttar Pradesh. The local gossips call her the Bad Luck Girl because her family has experienced so much misfortune. Her mother is dead, and her drunken father recently drowned. Her older sister, Lakshmi, ran away from her husband 13 years earlier. Now Radha goes in search of this man, hoping he can reunite her with her sister, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Lakshmi is living in the large city of Jaipur. She has managed to succeed on her own as a talented henna artist for the rich women of the town. Now prosperous, she has hired a Muslim street urchin named Malik to fetch and carry her supplies for her. Lakshmi brings in additional money by dispensing herbal remedies to her clients.

One day, Lakshmi calls on a customer named Parvati Singh, who is well-connected to the ruling elite of the city. The henna artist is intent on arranging a marriage for Parvati’s son with a girl of a different caste. Being a matchmaker would bring more money to Lakshmi so that she could finish building her fine new home.