Plot
Satya Chaudhry is told by her doctor that she has cancer and will die soon. She goes back to her native village in the Rajputana area and requests her childhood acquaintance, Roop, to provide companionship to her husband, Dev Chaudhry who runs a liberal spaper. Roop keeps rejecting Satya’s proposal but later gets convinced by her father, Dharampal, and agrees on the condition that she will marry Dev to which Satya agrees.
Once married, Dev tells Roop that he still loves Satya and that their relationship will only be cordial and platonic. A depressed Roop takes solace in music, which she begins by learning from the madam of a kotha, Bahaar Begum. She also begins working in her husband’s publishing house, to use her education to her advantage. Roop expresses interest in writing about the condition of the locality in which the kotha is located, during which she meets with a womanising blacksmith named Zafar.
Zafar wants to exact revenge on his parents, Bahaar Begum and Balraj Chaudhry (who abandoned Zafar after ending his extramarital affair with Bahaar) by seducing Roop, as she is married to Balraj’s legitimate son, Dev. Roop misconstrues Zafar’s intentions and falls in love with him. She also begins to develop a friendship with Dev, much to Satya’s happiness and sadness. Satya dies after urging Dev to give Roop a chance and to forgive Balraj for his affair. As part of another effort to humiliate Balraj, Zafar instigates communal hatred in his friend, Abdul Khan, by demanding for the partition of India on religious lines, which Balraj and Dev do not support.
When Balraj becomes aware of Roop and Zafar’s love, he confronts Bahaar and Zafar. Bahaar, who disagrees with Zafar’s approach, warns Roop and tells her about Zafar’s real intentions. Heartbroken, Roop consummates her marriage with Dev but insists that she would never be able to love him. As Abdul’s political stance gains leverage, riots against Hindus and Sikhs in the city take place, during which the Chaudhrys decide to flee to Amritsar with the help of Zafar, but not before Saroj, the benevolent maid is brutally stabbed to death. Zafar confesses to Roop that he eventually fell in love with her, despite his early intention. While boarding a train, Zafar is stabbed in his stomach four times with a dagger by Abdul, as Roop and Dev escape.
10 years later, Roop and Dev are interviewed about their experience by Aditya, a journalist documenting the partition. The story ends with Roop remembering Zafar and Roop’s inner voice saying that the colour of love and hate is red, but it’s love that often gets stigmatised or blemished.
Cast
Madhuri Dixit as Bahaar Begum: Balraj’s former lover; Zafar’s mother; Roop’s teacher
Sonakshi Sinha as Satya Chaudhry: Balraj’s first daughter-in-law; Dev’s first wife; Roop’s friend
Alia Bhatt as Roop Sami: Dharampal’s daughter; Satya’s friend; Balraj’s second daughter-in-law; Dev’s second wife; Zafar’s love interest; Bahaar’s student
Varun Dhawan as Zafar: Bahaar and Balraj’s illegitimate son; Dev’s half-brother; Roop’s love interest; Abdul’s friend; Lajjo’s lover
Aditya Roy Kapur as Dev Chaudhry: Balraj’s son; Satya and Roop’s husband; Zafar’s half-brother
Sanjay Dutt as Balraj Chaudhry: Bahaar’s former lover; Dev and Zafar’s father; Satya and Roop’s father-in-law
Kunal Khemu as Abdul Khan: Zafar’s friend
Achint Kaur as Saroj: Chaudhry household’s housekeeper
Pawan Chopra as Dharampal Sami: Roop’s father; Dev’s father-in-law
Hiten Tejwani as Ahmed Razi: Dev’s colleague
Special appearances
Kiara Advani as Lajjo: Zafar’s lover; Bahaar Begum’s student
Kriti Sanon in the song “Aira Gaira”
Pavail Gulati as Aditya Khanna: a journalist who interviews and documents Roop’s life story
Download Movie Kalank Hindi Movie || Sanjay Dutt | Madhuri Dixit | Varun Dhawan | Alia Bhatt | Sonakshi Sinha