In the picturesque town of Manikpur (West Bengal) in 1953, the Zamindar Soumitra Roychowdhury goes to watch a Chhau dance with his daughter, Pakhi Roychoudhury, an aspiring writer. After Pakhi has an asthma attack from the surrounding excitement, she is rushed home and given medication. As she recuperates, her father comforts her and narrates the story of an invincible king whose soul resided inside a parrot, and then reveals that Pakhi is the parrot within whom his life resides.
One day, while learning to drive, Pakhi accidentally bumps into a motorcycle and mildly injures a handsome youth. While he is being treated, Pakhi is drawn toward him. A few days later, the same youth introduces himself to the Zamindar as Varun Srivastav(/actor/ranveer-singh), an archaeologist who needs to study the land surrounding the temple owned by the Zamindar. Over the next few weeks, Varun charms the Zamindar and his daughter with his knowledge and persona, and is invited along with his assistant and friend, Devdas Mukherjee, also known as Dev, to live at their expansive mansion.
Varun convinces the Zamindar to set up camp near the town temple which hosts 300-year-old gold idols of Hindu Gods. The Zamindar also provides resources for the dig. All of this is supervised by the Zamindar's accountant, who is suspicious of Varun. Soon, love brews between Varun and Pakhi as they bond over art and literature. Pakhi confesses her aspirations of becoming an author, while Varun reveals his desire to paint a masterpiece. Their love soon culminates in a passionate affair.
Meanwhile, an act passed by the Indian government debars the powers of Zamindars, causing tension in the Chaudhary household. The Zamindar is under stress as he does not have money to even maintain his estate. A government treasury officer confiscates many artifacts from the household in the name of theft conducted by the East India Company. Varun advises that there are still artifacts of priceless value in the house, which international buyers would pay top dollar for. Varun arranges for his uncle to come and pose as the buyer for the artifacts, pulling the family deeper into a risky scheme.
As Varun's stay comes to an end, he proposes to Pakhi and preparations for their wedding begin thereafter. Varun tells the Zamindar that he has no family. Before the marriage, Varun's uncle, A. K. Bajpai, who raised him, arrives and discourages Varun from marriage, suggesting that Varun will only bring Pakhi grief because of the danger of what he actually does for a living, and that people like them are not meant to fall in love and have normal lives. Varun is conflicted but agrees and makes his choice. He and Dev escape that very night, along with all the valuables they stole from the landlord. But on the wedding day, Varun is nowhere to be found, and it is discovered that the idols from the temple have been stolen and the currency notes from the purchase of the family's artifacts (arranged by Varun) turn out to be counterfeit. It turns out that the Indian Govt Revenue officer was also working with this gang.
A year later, Pakhi is living all alone in Dalhousie with her maid, Shyama as her only company. Her father has passed away and she has still not recovered from her heartbreak. When a police Inspector Krishna Niranjan "K. N." Singh asks her to help him nab Varun, she refuses. Soon after that, Varun and his friend turn up at Dalhousie for their next heist and coincidentally stay at a lodge on Pakhi's property. Things turn ugly when the police get wind of their whereabouts, and a chase ensues. Varun inadvertently shoots Dev and a constable fatally and is injured in the encounter. He removes the bullet and then goes to seek refuge in Pakhi's house. Pakhi and Shyama attempt to hand him over to the police, but he threatens them.
Although Pakhi does not turn him over to the police, she is nevertheless enraged and repels Varun's comforting advances and explanation. In a letter, she explains to Varun that she is dying of tuberculosis and will pass away the day the last leaf falls from the wilting tree outside the window. Meanwhile, Shyama leaves the house, promising Varun that he would not be reported to the police. Varun plans his escape, but when his accomplice comes, he refuses to go and instead stays behind to take care of the sick Pakhi. He confesses to her that his real name is Atmanand Tripathi, and that he has regretted abandoning her since the day he escaped. Soon, Pakhi warms up to him, and her faith remains intact when each day she finds one last leaf remaining on the tree. In the end, seeing Pakhi's condition improving, Varun decides that it is time for him to leave, and he takes off, only to come face to face with a police blockade on the road, who proceed to shoot him fatally in encounter killing.
Meanwhile, Pakhi wakes up to find that Varun has disappeared, but the tree still has a leaf on it. She becomes suspicious and discovers that the leaf has been affixed to the tree by Varun. Every night, he would tie it on a branch of the tree so that she would not give up hope to live and it was Varun's masterpiece. Pakhi realizes the truth after she looks at the leaf closely and sees that it has been painted upon, and she smiles with tears in her eyes.
