Jaago

After a long day at school, ten-year-old Shruti Verma is accidentally locked inside the school building. By the time she is found and released, it is already night. She boards a commuter train home, hoping for a quiet ride, with an elderly couple and their daughter as her only company.

On the train, a trio of drug-hazed young men notice Shruti and brutally gang-rape her. The other passengers remain too timid to intervene, and no one stops the attack. The assault ends only after the culprits have left the train.

Shruti is taken to a hospital, but she dies from a massive shock in front of her anguished parents. Her death devastates the Verma family and becomes the catalyst for the investigation that follows. The tragedy exposes the brutal crime and sets the pursuit of justice in motion.

Kripa Shankar Thakur, an honest inspector, is entrusted with the case by the Police Commissioner. He discovers the culprits are sons of wealthy and influential citizens. He begins a determined investigation to uncover the truth and build a case against them.

Shankar tracks down the identities of the witnesses and devises a trap to catch the offenders in the act. Shradha, Shruti's mother, volunteers to act as bait by boarding the same train. The plan is risky and tests the line between justice and vigilantism.

The three culprits reappear and attempt to rape Shradha as well. In a moment of fury, Shradhha retrieves a knife and stabs one attacker to death. She is arrested and detained for manslaughter, becoming entangled in the very system she hoped to expose.

Despite mounting corruption and threats from powerful people, Shankar persists in pursuing the case. He faces bribery attempts and political pressure, but remains steadfast in bringing the culprits to justice. His determination earns him cautious support from some honest officers.

Shrikant bursts into the courthouse and shoots one of the offenders during a preliminary trial. The act triggers a dramatic escalation and unsettles the legal proceedings. The arrest and the shooting reveal the high-stakes tension behind the case.

Lawyer Satyaprakash Satwani employs ruthless tactics to buy off Sawant, Shankar's ally, so that the witnesses can be killed before they testify. Shankar responds by kidnapping Sawant's wife and son to force Sawant to release the witnesses. The sequence ratchets up the stakes in the courtroom drama.

With the witnesses secured and the Vermas' impassioned testimonies, the presiding judge moves closer to a verdict. The film frames the case as a critique of systemic corruption and the struggle for justice. The courtroom atmosphere crackles with moral tension as the outcome nears.

Against the odds, the judge acquits Shruti's parents and sentences the last offender to death by hanging. The Vermas are forced to confront a justice system that has betrayed them, even as they carry out the death sentence. The controversial verdict sparks heated public debate about law, power, and vigilantism within the social fabric.

Following the execution, the judge walks toward a sunset beach and, in a voiceover, says he has handed in his resignation and awakened. He tells the audience that he has awakened as well and urges them to awaken too. The film closes on a note about justice, conscience, and social awakening.