Ganapath 2023

In the year 2070, a devastating war has fractured the world behind a towering wall. The rich inhabit a gleaming bastion known as Silver City, ruled by Dalini, while the remnants of humanity endure in a ruined metropolis where daily needs are scarce and every favor is bought. The balance of power rests on the backs of those below, who watch the opulence above with a mix of envy and fear.

Guddu, Tiger Shroff, makes his home in the Silver City and works for Dalini’s henchman John, a man who runs brutal boxing bouts to feed the appetites of the city’s wealthy betters. John, Ziad Bakri, controls the arena and the money that flows from every punch, every wager, and every sly bet placed by the city’s financiers. One night, John assigns Guddu to escort Dimple, John’s girlfriend, to a nightclub, a task that spirals into trouble when Dimple’s proximity to Guddu stirs something dangerous in John. The moment he catches them, John executes a ruthless punishment—burying Guddu and Dimple alive. In a twist of fate, Guddu survives, and the seed of a plan to topple the corrupt order begins to grow.

Kaizaad, Jameel Khan, a conspirator close to the Dalini regime, pushes Guddu toward a baptism by fire: he should leave the Silver City for the city of the poor and seek out Shiva, a hardened combat trainer who can forge a weapon from weakness. It’s in this crucible that Guddu learns a startling truth: he is Ganapath, a legendary savior foretold to arise for the downtrodden. The revelation comes with a heavy weight, but Guddu accepts it as a calling, not a coronation. Under the stern guidance of Shiva, a weathered mentor, and the quiet resolve of Jassi, played by Kriti Sanon, Guddu begins the transformation from survivor to symbol.

The training is grueling, demanding discipline, strategy, and the ability to read both friend and foe in the ring. Shiva, Rahman, becomes the steadying force, while Jassi’s sharp mind and streetwise perspective give Guddu a moral compass he didn’t know he possessed. As Ganapath, he negotiates the line between deception and truth, showing prowess in the arena while secretly courting the people’s anger toward the corrupt power structure. The plan is complicated: Guddu must project loyalty to the very people he intends to overthrow, convincing John and Dalini that he’s playing along even as he tightens the noose around them.

When the time comes for the final match, Guddu orchestrates a daring gambit. He convinces John and Dalini’s associate to place bets on his opponent, while also persuading the poor to risk what little they have in the belief that Ganapath will protect them. The scheme is twofold: reward the oppressed by letting them risk their savings in a fight they can win, and extract a crushing blow from the greedy elite. In the arena, Ganapath dominates the first two rounds with a blend of raw power and calculated precision. In the third round, he pretends to falter, only to discover that John has stacked the deck with his own money—money meant to amplify the rich’s grip on power. The tables turn as Ganapath stages a dramatic comeback, defeating the opponent and delivering a financial and moral blow to John and Dalini.

The climax is broadcast across the city, and Guddu uses the moment to reveal truths that have been buried for too long. He discloses that Shiva is his biological father, a revelation that ties the fighter’s grit to a lineage of resistance and redefines Ganapath as more than a masked challenger; he becomes a voice for the marginalized. The message is clear: the rich have weaponized spectacle to numb the masses, but Ganapath has chosen to channel spectacle into justice. The poor are given a chance to challenge the wealth gap with their own winnings, and Guddu accepts the role of a guardian for the downtrodden—while still wearing the mantle of Ganapath.

In a final, startling twist, Dalini is unmasked not as a single tyrant but as a construct—an AI figure whose manipulation of reality has kept the two cities in a perpetual cycle of control. Dalini’s revelation as a doppelgänger of sorts, culminating in a direct confrontation with Ganapath, sets the stage for a clash that feels both personal and epochal. Guddu challenges Dalini to a definitive fight, a showdown that signals the possibility of Ganapath’s rise to a new era of resistance. The film closes on a tantalizing note, with the anticipation of Ganapath 2: Rise of the Hero, leaving audiences ready for the next chapter in this saga of power, rebellion, and redemption.

• Dimple, Elli Avram

• Jassi, Kriti Sanon

• Meera, Gauahar Khan

• Firang, Sammy Jonas Heaney