Ajay Shastri [Ajay Devgan] is an unemployed, honest graduate who dreams of joining the police force. His father, Prof. Raghuvansh Shastri [Mohan Agashe] is a highly-principled and moralistic man . An ex-school teacher and Gandhi follower, now a social activist, Prof. Shastri expects his son to follow in his steps and believe in his ideals and values. When his fathers ideals start clashing with Ajays dreams of becoming a police officer, a rift between father and son emerges. Ajay bribes higher officials to get his name on the Police Force list and, along with his friend[Ayub Khan], he gets Rs. 5 Lac loan as well. When things go awry, Ajay and his friend decide to kidnap a Government Official to repay the amount. Despite all this, Ajay loves Megha [Bipasha Basu], a smart and educated girl, who is also in love with him, but their worlds are far apart. The kidnap goes awry at the last minute. It turns out the official is in fact one of Tabrez Alams[Nana Patekar] men, a powerful and influential minority leader. Tabrez runs a parallel government; an empire which lives off money and fear and one which Tabrez has under his thumb with the help of his right-hand man; Daya Singh [Yashpal Sharma]. Murders, extortion, bribery and, above all, kidnappings are just some of the illegal activities that are conducted by Tabrez. Ajay and his friends are brought to jail under police custody. It is in jail that they are tortured by Daya Singh and his men, who runs the kidnapping business shuffling between jail and hospital. Ajay pleads with DSP Shukla to save him and promises to do anything for him and to be of a great use in future. DSP saves him as he is pissed off with Daya Singh for not getting his share of trading and creating pressure for his transfer. Ajay then kidnaps Sooraj Mal, one of the leading businessman and rising figure in local politics. This infuriates Tabrez as he always ordered Daya Singh to kidnap Sooraj Mal in order to make his power wrested with rest of the businessmen but failed because of high security. Daya Singh goes frantic upon hearing the kidnapping and goes to kill the person upon information provided by DSP Shukla. He is surprised to find Ajay as the kidnapper who kills him after humiliating him avenging his own humiliation in jail by the hands of Daya Singh. He surrenders himself to Tabrez asking him to take him into his gang. Tabrez sees potential in Ajay and soon Ajay starts running Tabrezs entire empire. He takes Ajay in like a son and places him higher than his own brother Usmaan [Mukul Nag]. Swimming in power, Ajay becomes the states most powerful gangster and, under Tabrezs authority, the head of Bihars most successful kidnapping trade. States home ministers wife is caught on camera taking money and the scandal becomes the hottest news. Home Minister offers Ajay to join him and leave Tabrez Alam which Ajay refuses. He then provides the taped conversation between him and Ajay to Tabrez in order to make a rift between them. Meanwhile, news correspondent Akash Ranjan calls a press conference for clarifying the scandal involving home minister inviting a discussion. Tabrez sends Ajay to kill Akash so that he would bring a no confidence motion against the government bringing its fall and he himself would come to power taking advantage of the political instability. Ajay is contacted by SP Anwar Khan who makes him aware of Tabrezs real motive. Ajay reaches the press conference venue only to find that the real person behind the ongoing debate of bribery scandal is his father. He leaves the place without killing Akash Ranjan and is confronted by DSP Shukla sent by Tabrez to kill him. Ajay surrenders himself to SP Khan and gives his statement revealing everything after killing DSP Shukla. This report is presented to Home Minister by Commissioner of Police citing the arrest warrant of Tabrez Alam. Home minister makes a deal with Tabrez Alam citing the evidence against him and both join hands to form new government in the state with the help of their respective MLA support. SP Khan is sorry for Ajay as all his efforts are ruined by the political upheaval. Ajay goes home one last time with the help from SP Khan where he watches his father reminiscing about him and make amends with him after knowing how much he loved him. He goes back to prison where Tabrez comes to meet him after becoming the new home minister of the state. He gloats in front of Ajay at the jail, but Ajay has a gun hidden with him and shoots Tabrez after they converse for a while, in return Tabrezs men shoot Ajay and the film ends.

Awards

2006 National Film Awards [India] * Best Screenplay - Prakash Jha, Manoj Tyagi - Shridhar Raghavan & Ajay Devgan - Best Actor Nomination Filmfare Awards * Best Dialogue - Prakash Jha * Best Villain - Nana Patekar

Shooting

Most of the movie was shot in Satara, Maharashtra.[http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/34/4570/2/]