Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad 2022

In the chaotic streets of Karachi, Gulab Mughal works as an inspector whose sense of duty is tangled with personal gain. He asks the D.I.G. Babar to stall his own promotion so he can keep collecting bribes under the shadow of Rana, a powerful politician who even keeps a lion on his private property. The arrangement keeps him comfortable, but it also ties him to a world where integrity is a slipping scale.

During a routine patrol, he crosses paths with Jia, a woman whose phone was snatched while she was rescuing pets. He recovers her cellphone and, struck by her, begins to court her by offering an array of animals for her shelter in an attempt to grow closer. Yet his charm soon seems hollow; he doesn’t seem truly interested in caring for the animals, and his obsession even unsettles her pet hamster, highlighting a growing imbalance between his intentions and his actions.

Gulab’s grip on power deepens as he continues to pressure petty peddlers and threaten those who stand in the way of VIPs who have already paid large bribes. Much of the bribe money is stored in a secret locker at Rana’s place, with Gulab himself keeping a portion for his own use. The system relies on silence and fear, and the line between enforcement and exploitation grows increasingly blurred.

Munir, Gulab’s father, discovers the hidden stash at his son’s house and dies in sorrow, a painful reminder of a lesson about Muhammad Ali Jinnah that he had once tried to impart. His death underscores a deeper fracture: Gulab’s devotion to corrupt practices has eclipsed the values of his upbringing. The absence of Jinnah’s image on Pakistani currency begins to haunt their circle, and Munir’s assistant, Ronaq, notices the missing emblem and connects it to the uncertain loyalties that now govern their earnings, marking the notes as counterfeit in a way that shakes the city’s trust.

When Jia learns of Gulab’s misdeeds, she grows angry, and Gulab experiences a rare moment of clarity. He attempts to make amends by returning the stolen money along with apology notes, following a list created by his team. He publicly disciplines an officer who mistreated a peddler, a move that sparks controversy and tests his allies’ support. In a dramatic bid to repair the relationship with the public and with the memory of Jinnah, he suggests that his superiors—Babar and Rana—seek an apology at Mazar-e-Quaid. Rana rejects the idea and pushes for a political maneuver: either removing Jinnah’s picture from currency notes or switching to US dollars. This act triggers widespread protests, with Jia leading the movement against the notion of keeping a lion on Rana’s private property and the broader symbolism of the money in play.

Gulab’s pursuit of accountability continues as he attempts to obtain warrants against Rana, only to end up breaking into Rana’s enclave after Jia’s complaint. The police seize the lion and relocate it to the jungle, a symbolic win for those fighting for dignity over spectacle. Rana, fighting to escape accountability, sets fire to his own house and alerts Babar. Yet Gulab recovers all the bribe money from Rana’s private jet and, under Babar’s directive, uses it to flash a message of relief to ordinary citizens—money cast down like confetti to illustrate a city that can still be moved by generosity and justice. The dramatic culmination sees Gulab and the jet meet a tragic end off Clifton Beach, Karachi, as Rana is arrested and Gulab makes a final, unequivocal moment to confront corruption.

After the dust settles and the case is resolved, the image of Jinnah reappears on Gulab’s salary, a symbol that the Father of the Nation’s ideals might be reflected again in his work. Believing that his father Munir and Jinnah themselves would be pleased, Gulab accepts the long-sought promotion. In a quiet, hopeful note, he and Jia confess their feelings and talk about a future together, signaling a chance for a life where love and justice can coexist with duty.