Presented through the narration by Ajay Devgn, the film follows Zooni Haksar, an NIA agent who goes under cover as a manicurist to pressure Sabia, the girlfriend of terrorist leader Burhan Wani, into revealing his whereabouts. Armed with this information, she masterminds a covert operation to neutralize Wani without clearance from her superiors. The mission succeeds: Wani is killed in a gunfight and no civilians at the compound are harmed. Yet this victory becomes a propaganda win for the separatist camp, allowing Yakub Shaikh and his allies to cast him as a martyr and spark agitation across the state with covert political backing. In their reshuffle, they replace Wani with another terrorist figure, Zakir Naikoo, deepening the crisis and complicating the security landscape. The fallout strains the authorities, and Zooni Haksar is reprimanded and transferred to New Delhi.
In Delhi, Rajeshwari Swaminathan, the Joint Secretary at the PMO, is questioned about Kashmir’s stability and meets with Jagmohan Patil, the former Governor of Kashmir, to discuss the possibility of abrogating Article 370. She pushes the NIA into Kashmir to stem the rising violence and to investigate terror cases, aiming to stabilize a situation that has deteriorated after the knockout of Wani. Later, Salahuddin Jalal arrives in Delhi, guarded by Zooni, who was moved from Kashmir following the Wani operation. Meanwhile, Parveena Andrabi presses Rajeshwari for a more consensual approach from the Center, arguing that Islamabad’s influence and local discontent require careful handling. On Jalal’s way to meet the PM, he speaks with Zooni about her father, Kabir—a whistleblower who was framed in the J&K Bank scam and found dead in a Kashmir lake—an anecdote that deeply unsettles Zooni. The government’s hands are tied by Article 370, complicating accountability and intervention. Rajeshwari pushes Zooni to consider returning to Kashmir to advocate for abrogation, and after a moment of hesitation, Zooni agrees on the condition that two more people join her team.
Back in Srinagar, Zooni’s team includes Namita Chaturvedi, an ED official, Gaurang Sengupta, a CBI financial crime consultant, and Ashish Mattoo, along with her two requested colleagues. They investigate a stone-pelting incident in Anantnag where youths were allegedly paid to throw stones. Their probe leads them to a dry-fruit supplier and a contractor network. Tapping phone conversations reveals a string of code-names—archangels in Islamic lore such as Azrael—pointing to a clandestine operation. One name, Jibril, is revealed to be Abdali, an ISI asset who doubles as a mole for Khawar Ali. Despite a planned mob action orchestrated by Parveena Andrabi, Zooni and the CRPF secure Abdali. He injures himself in custody to buy time while Jalal and Andrabi maneuver to form a coalition government and regain influence in the Valley, but the ministry’s fax machine fails and President’s Rule is declared, derailing their plans. Tragedy strikes when her friend Yash Chauhan, a member of the Indian Army, is killed in a bus bombing carried out in retaliation.
Grieving and enraged, Zooni interrogates Yakub Shaikh, who exposes that Naikoo orchestrated the bombing. In a bid to undermine the government’s narrative, she also sees Khawar Ali removed from his position, a decision that upends one layer of the separatist strategy. The government gears up to push forward abrogation of Article 370, while Zooni locates a vital document hidden in a Kashmir library that could prove pivotal to the plan. As the operation expands, the team contends with unrest, arrests anti-Indian elements across the Valley, and crafts a media-secrecy strategy designed to mislead the public and mislead external observers, including the Pakistani military—assistance that Khawar helps facilitate.
The Prime Minister and Home Minister press the bill through the Rajya Sabha, despite a wary opposition, while Zooni closes in on Naikoo. In a dramatic confrontation, she kills Naikoo, at last avenging her friend and enabling the formal abrogation of Article 370. The victory is tempered by loss, with tributes paid to those who fell and a sense of wary relief as the NIA, the PMO, and the Home Ministry acknowledge the fragile peace that follows. In the closing moments, the end credits juxtapose real-life photos illustrating the peace and progress seen in Kashmir after the abrogation. Meanwhile, Zooni finds a measure of resolution as her father’s case file is reopened, signaling a quiet personal closure amid a broader political shift.
