Raj Kumar Gupta gives up his first love Shanti to marry a wealthy heiress Kamini, who is the daughter of Seth Dindayal. Shanti comes by to wish him success on his marriage with the news that she is carrying his child and moving away. She gives birth to a boy and names him Vijay. She raises him to adulthood. After she dies, Vijay comes to Delhi to take revenge by destroying his father's business and family connections. Shekhar and Kusum are Vijay's half-siblings who are caught in the crossfire of Vijay's revenge. Vijay also crosses paths with Geeta, the devoted secretary of Gupta and another company's general manager Sheetal who is also the daughter of the owner of the company. When Geeta is fired Vijay hires her. He tries to create differences between Shekhar and Sheetal. Vijay also takes all the good deals which resulted in losses for Raj. He even encourages Kusum to marry Ravi against her father's wishes which enrages Shekhar and he ends up fighting with Vijay. But Geeta comes and tells the truth. Shekhar and Kusum leave Raj. Raj in anger tells Balwant to kill Vijay. Later Vijay comes down and tells him that he is Raj's son and leaves. Raj tries to stop Balwant but he had already left and kidnapped Ravi in order to get to Vijay. Vijay, with the assistance of Shekhar and Raj, rescues Ravi. Balwant aims at Vijay but Raj comes in between and thus Raj is shot in the process by Balwant. Before dying Raj asks for forgiveness. Vijay forgives him and unites with the family. In addition, Vijay changes the name of his company from Shanti Constructions to Shanti-Raj Constructions.
All the songs were composed by Khayyam and lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. The soundtrack for this movie is credited for bringing the three legends of Indian film music Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar & K. J. Yesudas together in a single song "Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki Cheez Hai".
Reception
Box office
In India, the film grossed , with net earnings of. It was declared a "Super Hit" at the box office, becoming the second top-grossing Indian film of 1978, below Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and above Don. Overseas in the Soviet Union, the film released in May 1980, with 529 prints. It sold tickets at the Soviet box office, grossing an estimated million руб, bringing the film's worldwide gross to approximately . Adjusted for inflation, its Indian gross is equivalent to and its Soviet gross is equivalent to , for a total inflation-adjusted worldwide gross of . In terms of footfalls, the film sold an estimated million tickets in India, and tickets in the Soviet Union, for an estimated total of tickets sold worldwide.
Ziya Us Salam of The Hindu in his review of Yeh Hai Jalwa called it "a spoof of Trishul".
Popular culture
The movie was heavily referenced in Anurag Kashyap's 2012 crime filmGangs of Wasseypur. A Sinhala film with a similar story line was made with the title Hello Shyama by Director M.S. Anandan, starring Gamini Fonseka in the role of Sanjeev, and Shyama Anandan, daughter of M.S. Anandan, in the role played by Amitabh Bachchan.
