Batki (Rani Mukerji) and Chutki (Konkona Sen Sharma) are the daughters of Shivshankar Sahay (Anupam Kher) and Sabitri (Jaya Bachchan).

Kunal Kapoor

They live together on the banks of the River Ganges in Banaras.

Life is sweet and full of fun for the two. The family are relatively poor but try to stay strong. Batki is especially protective of her family and is determined to make sure Chutki completes her education.

Their father, Mr Sahay, a former economics teacher, is unable to cope with an unfair dismissal at the college and his bitterness increases with every passing day.

Abhishek Bachchan

So with no money coming in, Bakti's education is stopped. Instead she helps her mother.

As life gets meaner by the day Batki decides to go to Mumbai so that she can feed her family back in Banaras.

Alone and unsupported in the midst of the urban jungle of Mumbai, Badki battles with dark forces, keeping her focus on supporting her family and continuing Chutki's education.

She deliberately morphs into someone else, leading a secret double-life full of murky compromises.

Rani Mukerji

When Chutki comes to Mumbai to work, things take a dramatic turn. Badki's life turns into a minefield, as she hides her secrets from Chutki.

Chutki makes her way in the world and falls in love with Vivaan (Kunal Kapoor), a Mumbai city boy.

Batki too, finds love with Rohan (Abhishek Bachchan), a top city lawyer, but runs away from him thinking that it is not part of her destiny. Instead, she battles menace and blackmail alone, not letting these dark shadows fall on Chutki or her family.

But her dual life is revealed, and the two sisters face each other in a confrontation neither expects. And when love beckons Badki again, the whole family is thrown in a tumultuous storm. Everything threatens to explode, destroying all of them in this moving drama.

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (meaning My Veil is Stained) is releasing in UK cinemas on 12 October 2007 to coincide with the Eid celebrations.