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Synopsis:

The story begins at the bedside of 89-year-old Saket Ram who is trying to die as peacefully as possible. Astride waves of nostalgia, his consciousness returns to the 1940s. Saket Ram (Kamal Haasan) and his associate Amjad Ali Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) are two archeologists working for Mortimer Wheeler on the Mohenjodaro excavations.

In the air is talk of the creation of a new state of Pakistan. Saket Ram and Amjad Ali are opposed to it. But when Saket Ram goes to Calcutta to meet Aparna, his wife, violence breaks out. Mohammed Ali Jinnah announces Direct Action Day and Shaheed Suhrawardy cruelly executes it, wreaking havoc upon the city. In the bloodshed Aparna is raped and killed by Muslim fundamentalists. Saket Ram is distraught. While wandering around the city streets in a daze he meets Abhyankar, a Hindu fundamentalist. In his state of confusion, he begins to get influenced by his ideology and argument which blames Mahatma Gandhi.

Disgusted with the events, he returns to his home in Madras where his family gets him married to Mythili (Vasundhara Das). However, the second marriage too fails to help him find a solution to his inner restlessness and visions of the fateful night when Aparna was killed recur. He blames the politicians who have made hurried decisions on the country's behalf. He becomes a bitter critic of Gandhi.

His private frustrations bring him in contact with other like-minded people. Abhyankar comes into his life once again and introduces him to a Maharajah in Maharashtra who secretly plots against Gandhi. Abhyankar is chosen for the mission but when he dies, Saket Ram is chosen as the assassin and January 30th 1948, the date for the deed.

Saket Ram comes to Delhi on this mission. On a false alarm, police come to replace his room. In a hurry, he drops the gun on the top of a soda truck below his balcony. After the police leave, he returns to the balcony to find the truck gone. In replace of the truck, he goes to the old Delhi area. To retrieve his gun, he enters the soda factory during curfew hours. The Muslims in the area are suspicious of him and he is saved only by his old friend Amjad Ali Khan. In a violent encounter between Hindus and Muslims, Amjad Ali Khan lays down his life for the sake of his friend. Saket Ram comes to Birla House on January 30th 1948 to complete his mission. But when the moment of truth comes he cannot do it and he falls at the Mahatma's feet. While he is at the Mahatma's feet two shots ring out in the morning air and Nathuram Godse murders the Mahatma.

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