Taken from synopsis page at Ranga Shankara ...

Dildaar is a tragedy that works at two levels simultaneously– from the perspective of an artist having to compromise his genetic skills for a living that, at best, could be described as common-place; and of a humanist, whose innate compassion for mankind is jeered and even despised by his own loved ones. Dildaar Hussain is an artist by inclination, who by a twist of fate, now works at a shoe shop in a small town. His paintings and artistry in making “Nagra” shoes (an antique footwear patronized by a select few connoisseurs) makes him an asset for his shoe shop.

In addition to his artistic qualities, Dildaar is instinctively charitable – and it is an act of charity that he bestows on a prostitute Rinti outside his favourite liquor shop, that turns his life upside down. He gives Rinti – a prostitute who strikes him as being slightly different from the typical ones in the trade – some money to help her out and a lottery ticket that he had purchased as another act of benevolence on a poor agent. By chance, the ticket wins the bumper prize, and when everybody lambastes Dildaar for giving it away, back comes Rinti and hands Dildaar his ticket despite his protestations. In an instant, Dildaar becomes sensationally rich – and most of his acquaintances wish to share the spoils. Dildaar feels sick at the naked display of greed, and determines to donate the entire money towards charity. Everybody, including his own daughter and her fiancé consider him mentally unsound – only his wife stands by him. In his agitation at the behaviour of his loved ones, he suffers a heart attack. As he comes to the verge of death – he has a vision of Rinti – who seems to have come to fetch him into a world far kinder and peaceful. Rinti is like the personification of Dildaar’s ultimate philosophy of existence – defying all the bounds and limits of time and space.