Parineeta, places the story in the Kolkata of 1962. The narration focuses on the night of the marriage of Shekhar and Gayatri Tantya, a rich industrialist's daughter. The audience is introduced to Navin Rai as Shekhar's father while we see Shekhar readying himself for the occasion. While he is doing that, images of Lolita calling him by his name flash through his mind. Downstairs, musical celebrations begin as Shekhar meets Vasundhara, a widow from his neighborhood, who is thankful to her son-in-law, Girish, for supporting their family after the death of her husband, Gurcharan. Lolita, who is present there, playfully confronts Shekhar as to why he is being indifferent to her.
Shekhar admonishes her for speaking so in spite of being married.
An angry Shekhar comes back home to play a favorite tune from the past on his piano. The flashback shows a young Shekhar playing the Rabindranath Tagore’s tune on his piano while young Lolita and Koel are around.
Lolita, with her parents having died in a car accident, lives with Gurcharan’s family whereas Koel and Charu are her neighbors. As this scene flashes across Shekhar’s mind, he sings a song full of sadness and loss.