Rana’s brother Jyotiwardhan (Jackie Shroff) and nephew Udaywardhan (Jimmy Shergill) are impatient to grab his palace and wealth. But when the estranged son (Saif Ali Khan) returns to the palace after his mother’s death, the complications increase.

The ruler’s mentally challenged daughter Nandini’s (Raima Sen) recollection of a crime is the turning point of the film. Looking after the mentally fragile child woman Nandini is Rajewsari, the daughter (Vidya Balan) of a chauffer (Parikshat Sahni).

The scheming father and son set in motion a chain of events that brings a lower caste police officer (Sanjay Dutt) into the story whereby allowing the film to take up a populist stand against evil minded rulers who mete out terrible treatment to the lower caste denizens in their princely realms.

As the scheming continues, there are murders, attempted murders, rebellion by the villagers whose lands are confiscated by the greedy ruler, and fleeting romance.

Much of the eye-catching action by lensman Nataraja Subramanian takes place in the palace. Chopra has staged quite a few well-edited and hair-raising scenes, especially when a blindfolded Bachchan is testing his archery skills.