Inayat Khan, Sanjay Dutt is the calm, capable Senior Superintendent of Police stationed in Srinagar, Kashmir. When a fatwa proclaimed by the wanted militant Malik Ul Khan forbids doctors from treating Inayat and his family, the pressure and grief mount as his young son Irfaan dies after local doctors refuse care. Inayat responds with surgical precision, leading a raid that eliminates Malik Ul Khan and his associates. The operation, however, comes at a human cost: a civilian couple is killed in the crossfire, leaving their young son Altaaf, Hrithik Roshan, as the sole survivor.
At the urging of his wife, Neelima, Sonali Kulkarni Neelima, Inayat chooses to adopt Altaaf but keeps the circumstances surrounding his parents’ death a secret. The years pass, and a fragile family veneer hides the violence at the heart of Altaaf’s world. Altaaf grows up with a sense of loss and questions that gnaw at him, until he uncovers the truth and, consumed by anger, attempts to kill Inayat. He escapes and is found by Hilal Kohistani, a ruthless militant leader who takes him under his wing and gradually radicalizes him into a weapon of terror.
A decade later, Altaaf returns to Srinagar as part of Mission Kashmir, a terrorist operation that is purportedly aimed at assassinating the Indian Prime Minister. As the plan unfolds, Altaaf reconnects with Sufiya Parvez, Preity Zinta, a television personality who becomes an unexpected confidante and love interest. Their bond complicates Altaaf’s mission, and he uses the closeness to push forward an attack on the city’s TV tower. When Sufiya learns Altaaf’s true identity, she ends their relationship, torn between compassion and the dangerous path he has chosen.
Altaaf’s next act seems to declare him a prime suspect on the wrong side of justice: he plants a bomb intended for Inayat, but in the blast Neelima is killed. Devastated by the loss, Neelima’s death deepens the rift between what Altaaf believes and what his father stands for. Inayat’s world fractures as he comes to see that the Mission Kashmir plot goes far beyond political rivalries. He realizes the larger aim is to strike at religious sites across Hindu and Muslim communities to spark widespread violence and destabilize the region; the PM’s assassination was a distraction, a cover for a more insidious plan. Hilal had kept Altaaf in the dark about the full scope of the operation and even secretly ordered Altaaf’s execution if he refused to comply.
Inayat ultimately captures Hilal and proposes a stark deal: permit the mission to proceed if Hilal agrees to kill Altaaf. The confrontation tests loyalties and revelations alike. Altaaf overpowers Inayat, forcing him to reveal the truth behind the mission. When ordered to execute his father, Altaaf hesitates, moved by memories of Neelima’s compassion and the life she hoped for him. In a decisive turn, Altaaf chooses mercy over vengeance—he kills Hilal and dismantles the missile launchers, foiling the operation and taking down the remaining militants. Wounded in the struggle, Altaaf is rescued by Inayat, whose faith in his son’s humanity appears to be restored.
The broader plot is eventually exposed by the media, and the personal stories intersect with the political drama, transforming the perspectives of those involved. Altaaf wakes from a dreamlike realization, and the story moves toward reconciliation as he reconnects with Sufiya and Inayat, gradually accepting the father who never truly stopped loving him. The film closes on a note of tentative peace, with the family reconciliation standing in contrast to the violence that once seemed inseparable from the land they call home.
