A nameless boy, who was abandoned at a very young age by his parents, faces taunts from the other children in his village for not having a name. One day, he sadly asks a priest what his name is, to which the priest answers "Ram Jaane" (Ram knows), which the boy accepts as his name. Ram Jaane and his friend Murli are caught stealing from a train by a corrupt police officer, Chewte. Chewte beats Ram Jaane in jail, but he is released without charge. Years later, Ram Jaane is now working for Sameer Sanavla who treats him like his own son. One day Sanavla is murdered by the now promoted Inspector Chewte and when Ram Jaane attempts to kill Chewte, he is again put in jail and brutally assaulted. When released from prison, Ram Jaane is taken by Murli to "Apna Ghar", a home set up for the homeless. Murli believes that this is the best way to reform him, showing the difference between Murli and Ram Jaane and how they turned out. It is at Apna Ghar where Ram Jaane is reunited with his childhood friend Bela, whom he is in love with.
However, even in Apna Ghar, Ram Jaane still remains a criminal and even manages to influence the children in the house to follow in his footsteps. Apna Ghar is soon targeted by Baweja, a criminal with a vendetta for Ram Jaane. Baweja orders his gang to attack Apna Ghar and all its residents, which Ram Jaane is able to thwart. Ram Jaane eventually retaliates by shooting Baweja in the head. Chewte learns of Baweja's death and is determined to have his murderer put in prison. He approaches Apna Ghar and starts beating one of the children, which leads to Murli and the others attacking Chewte and his fellow officers. In the riot, one child gets killed. Murli blames Ram Jaane for this tragedy and Ram Jaane runs away. He attempts to make Bela run away with him (as he believes she loves him), but she refuses. Bela is, in fact, in love with Murli who had already reciprocated her feelings secretly, as he realized that Ram Jaane also loved her. Murli begs Bela to attempt to reform Ram Jaane. However, whilst trying to reform him, Bela begins to dislike him for his criminal ways. Bhau, Ram Jaane's rival and Technicolour, Ram Jaane's former partner in crime hatch a plot to kill Ram Jaane who kills them both upon discovering this plot and rushes to Apna Ghar to stop their henchmen from killing anyone. Eventually, Chewte arrives on the scene but is shot by Ram Jaane as a payback for the years of torture inflicted upon him.
Ram Jaane is taken to court where he confesses to all of his crimes. The court decides that he must be sentenced to death. The boys of Apna Ghar are in awe of Ram Jaane, as he plans to "die with a smile." The boys think this is courageous and plan to follow in his criminal footsteps. Murli pleads with Ram Jaane not to die bravely, so the boys won't want to follow his path, but Ram Jaane refuses. On the day of his death, with Murli and the boys watching, Ram Jaane feigns fear, crying and pleading for his life. One by one, the boys remove their red headbands, the symbol of being members of Ram Jaane's gang. After his death, Bela and Murli read a letter from Ram Jaane which he had written to Bela. It states that he feels guilty for everything he had done and that he had planned intentionally for Bela to leave him and to go back to Murli.
