Sir Richard's Mental Sanatorium is run by the strict and authoritative Doctor Khurana Om Puri, with two other main doctors, Sunil Jackie Shroff and Tanvi Khurana Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is Khurana's daughter. Tanvi’s past work stands out: she treated a female patient identified as no. 36 with a tenderness that challenged Khurana’s harsher methods, a stance that ultimately led to her being disappointed when her efforts aren’t acknowledged after the patient’s discharge. This moment hardens Tanvi, and she grows wary of forming close bonds with patients.
A young man, Anand Rai Singhania Salman Khan, is brought to the sanatorium by court order. The doctors initially find no clear signs of insanity, but everything changes when a housefly lands on the table. Anand’s sudden, violent outburst—smashing objects with a club as the fly distracts him—convinces the staff that he is indeed mentally unstable, and he is admitted.
Anand tries to make friends among the other patients. Sunil Jackie Shroff develops a caring bond with him, revealing that Anand’s father had helped shape Sunil’s career as a doctor. Anand’s daily disruptions irritate Tanvi, who requests that he be expelled from the asylum. The tension between care and discipline grows as the two doctors argue over the patient’s fate.
Sunil discovers Anand’s diary and hands it to Tanvi, who learns about Anand’s painful past. He was a college musician who fell in love with Maya Rimi Sen, a vivacious nun in Romania. Maya initially did not reciprocate his feelings, and Anand, in a moment of desperation, threatened to end his life on a church rooftop to provoke a response. Maya did respond—confessing her feelings—but their romance was complicated and marked by mistrust and mischief.
As Tanvi reads more, she realizes how deeply Anand’s heart was wounded. He believed Maya’s love would save him, but Maya’s playful, deceptive pranks—pretending to be incapable at times, then revealing otherwise—left him unsettled and eventually heartbroken. A chilling moment follows when Anand believes Maya will ride a horse or drive a car, only to discover her capabilities in the face of his doubts; the situation escalates until, in a moment of panic, Anand leaves Maya in a swimming pool and she cannot swim. He returns to find that Maya has drowned, a catastrophe that shatters him and blinds him with guilt.
Confronted with this revelation, Tanvi apologizes to Anand, and the two forge a fragile friendship. Together with Sunil, they work to help Anand confront and remember his past, and his mental state gradually improves. He decides to leave the asylum, but he remains when Tanvi confesses her love for him. He returns her affection, and the couple appears to be happy—only to face another complicated twist: Tanvi is engaged to Karan Suniel Shetty, a union Khurana approves for reasons of status and duty rather than genuine affection.
The conflict between professional duty and personal desire intensifies. Khurana sees this relationship as a patient–doctor liaison rather than a true bond, and he pressures Tanvi to choose between Anand and her engagement. When Karan learns of the connection, he urges Tanvi to go with Anand. Sunil tries to advocate for a more compassionate approach to treatment, but Anand’s feelings erupt into anger, and Khurana responds with a drastic act: he lobotomizes Anand.
Desperate to protect Anand’s future, Sunil and Tanvi attempt to smuggle him out of the sanatorium so he and Tanvi can run away together. It is too late, however, when Sunil learns of the lobotomy. Grief-stricken and believing there is no hope, Sunil ends Anand’s suffering by suffocating him with a pillow. After Sunil confesses the act to Khurana, Tanvi’s grip on reality falters, and she spirals into madness. She is admitted as a patient in the same facility, bearing the same number—no. 36. In the end, Dr. Khurana bears the weight of guilt for his daughter’s fate and the tragedy of losing a patient he could not save.
