The movie begins at present day with Saketh Ram (Kamal Haasan), an 89-year-old South Indian Brahmin who is dying. The scene reverts back to the past as Saketh remembers the 1940's, when he and his good friend, Amjad Ali Khan (Shahrukh Khan) were archaeologists working together under their boss, Mortimer Wheeler, in Mohanjodaro (Indus River Valley Civilization) in Karachi. Relations are pleasant between the Indians and the English, and Saket and Amjad do not approve of the Partition and the creation of Pakistan. Aparna Sen, Saketh's simple Bengali wife is living in Calcutta in the midst of riots and chaos over the issue of the formation of Pakistan. Saket goes to Calcutta and is swept into the madness. In one instance, Saket saves an innocent Punjabi girl from the hands of a Muslim gang. The Muslims are angered and decide to take revenge; the group is headed by Aparna's tailor, Altaf, who break into Saket's home. They brutally rape and maliciously slit Rani's throat, and the scene, so vividly shot, leaves little for the imagination. This itself turns Saketh Ram maniacal and puts him on a wild killing spree, avenging his wife's disgrace and killing every possible Muslim in sight. On his apparent sortie he comes across a bunch of right-winged Hindu fundamentalists, led by Abhyankar (Atul Kulkarni). Abhyankar preaches him about the need of the Hindus to come together and save their brethren from the Islamists who according to them are mere intruders from across the Khyber.. He soon joins fanatical Hindus and loses sense of himself, falling victim to the chaos and religious hatred around him. He is also urged to marry again and agrees to it reluctantly. Mahatma Gandhi (Naseeruddin Shah) is solely blamed for the division of India and of the two religions. His wrath gets the better of him as he pledges to take revenge co-opted by the Hindutva Brigade and he travels from Calcutta to Madras to kill Mahatma Gandhi. There he meets his second wife (Vasundhara Das) , another light eyed beauty. Saketh Ram does not love her but only marries her under his father's (Kavignar Vaali) orders. Saket Ram is entrusted the task of killing Mahatma Gandhi, after his friend Abhyankar is left paralyzed in a freak accident. He has a change of heart only when he falls prey to a bunch of Muslims, where he also meets old chum Amjad Khan (Shah Rukh Khan), an ardent Gandhi admirer. At the climax, Saketh Ram is prepared to murder Mahatma Gandhi but is stopped by Amjad. He later realizes that without Gandhi, India would be destroyed. He goes up to Gandhi and begs for forgiveness but Gandhi says he has to go and that he has no time for his apologies. When Gandhi is about to leave, a young man approaches and kills Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi with a gun. The movie ends with the old Saketh Ram, slowly dying on his death bed.
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