Azad, portrayed by Shah Rukh Khan, serves as the jailer of a women's prison in Mumbai. In a daring move, he takes control of a Mumbai Metro train, holding a group of six inmates hostage: the nurturing mother figure, Lakshmi (Priyamani); the caring medic, Eeram (Sanya Malhotra); the creative artist, Ishkra (Girija Oak); the skilled munitions expert, Kalki (Lehar Khan); the tech-savvy hacker, Helena (Sanjeeta Bhattacharya); and the talented composer, Janhvi (Aaliya Qureshi).
Azad engages in tense negotiations with NSG officer Narmada Rai (Nayanthara), demanding ₹40,000 crores from Agriculture Minister Murari Das (Naresh Gossain) in exchange for the 376 hostages' safety. Stirring the audience's emotions, Azad points out the grim reality by stating that under the minister's watch, "10,281 farmers have committed suicide to date," and highlights the disparity in loan interest rates—13% for farm loans compared to only 8% for luxury cars.
Kalee Gaikwad (Vijay Sethupathi), a notorious global arms dealer, becomes personally invested when he learns that his daughter Alia (Ashlesha Thakur) is one of the captives. Upon questioning their motives, Azad reveals his grand plan: the money will go towards waiving loans for 700,000 impoverished farmers. He recounts the tragedy that led Kalki to murder a bank agent after her father, shamed for being unable to repay a tractor loan due to devastating crop failures, took his own life.
Azad and his group skillfully transfer the funds directly into the farmers' accounts and vanish from the metro before the authorities can respond. After revealing his true identity as Vikram Rathore to Kalee through Alia, Azad finds himself further entrenched in a web of past grievances.
As the story unfolds, Azad woos Narmada and her daughter Suji (Seeza Saroj Mehta), eventually leading to a marriage proposal. Their relationship embodies trust, with Suji accepting Azad whole-heartedly. However, complications arise when they kidnap the Health Minister (Ashwin Kaushal), pushing for better healthcare infrastructure as revenge for Eeram’s past experience, which saw her falsely imprisoned for a tragedy at her former hospital that claimed many young lives due to negligence.
In a dramatic series of events, Azad forces the dean of that hospital to admit the truth on live television, resulting in improvements across 236 hospitals as per Azad's demands. However, their precarious escape leads to a confrontation where Narmada discovers Azad's true identity and the stakes rise when Kalee's henchmen capture her and Azad.
Just when all seems lost, help arrives in the form of Vikram Rathore's doppelganger (Shah Rukh Khan), unleashing a fury upon Kalee’s men and ultimately leading to a climactic showdown where the past comes rushing back, piecing together Vikram’s fragmented life of heroism and the conspiracy that taints it.
As Vikram recalls his service in the army and the betrayal at the hands of Kalee, the narrative juxtaposes tragic backstory and present chaos. This cinematic experience culminates in a high-octane battle for justice, culminating in the defeat of Kalee, followed by a final act where officer Sanjay Dutt as Madhavan Naik assigns Azad a new mission, targeting illicit Swiss banks.
