Kareeb is a tender love story. But the film moves beyond love to encapsulate family, friendships, relationships. It is the story of a love lost and found, of passions played out against the enchanting mountains of Himachal Pradesh, of friendships that stand firm against adversity, of unconditional relationships that tower above everything else. Birju (Bobby Deol) lives in the beautiful lakeside town of Rewalsar. The son of the town's biggest textile merchant, Birju is the family prankster, full of jokes and naughty 'shararats'. His life changes forever when Neha (Neha) moves to Rewalsar. Neha is the daughter of a young war widow Chanchal (Moushmi Chatterjee). Chanchal has brought up her daughter single-handedly and they share a specially close bond. Birju sees Neha for the first time at the lakeside, in evening light, as thousands of diyas are floated by people in prayer. Neha is dew fresh, smiling, ethereal. And very smart. At every turn, Neha stumps Birju... "Yeh mere saath hi aisa kyun hota hai", he asks. Over laughter and pranks, their love slowly blooms. Just as their relationship cements and happiness seems within reach, a harmless prank by Birju wrecks everything..... their world falls apart. The action then shifts from Rewalsar to Shimla where we meet, among others, the hilarious Bhigelal (Johnny Lever), a laundry owner who dreams of visiting England, Uncle and Aunty (Shammi Kapoor and Sushma Seth) and Abhay (Abhay), an upright doctor who comes to admire Neha and helps her overcome her personal crisis. It is a story of tears and laughter, happiness and despair. There are no villains here and no heroes - just life in all it's glorious splendour.