Raanjhanaa 2013

Kundan Shankar [Dhanush] is introduced as a deeply devout man, the son of a Tamil priest, whose childhood crush on Zoya Haider [Sonam Kapoor Ahuja] grows into a steadfast, patient love. In the holy city of Varanasi, their whispered affection unfolds in quiet moments and small gestures, even as the world around them—their families, faiths, and social expectations—keeps testing the possibility of a shared future. In those early years, Kundan’s unwavering belief and Zoya’s curiosity toward his constancy begin to define a bond that feels both timeless and fragile.

As time passes, Zoya’s heart begins to tilt toward Kundan’s gentle persistence, and she finally allows herself to consider a life with him. But the path is blocked by orthodox family ties and social norms that insist on keeping lovers apart. When Zoya advances to Aligarh for her studies, Kundan does not retreat; instead, he adapts, supporting her family and assisting with everyday duties, earning a space in their household through quiet reliability. This shift marks a turning point: the relationship is no longer a private crush but a treaty of patience and care, slowly broadening into a mutual, if contested, understanding.

The story broadens its horizon as Zoya enters Jawaharlal Nehru University, where the film casts a lens on Delhi’s vibrant, sometimes volatile political and ideological atmosphere. Here, Zoya encounters a charismatic student leader, Jasjeet Singh Shergill, who is disguising himself as Akram Zaidi to win acceptance from her family [Abhay Deol]. In this complex city of ideas, Zoya discovers a fierce, new strength within herself, and her affections shift toward the activist figure who embodies her own idealism and courage.

Fast forward to eight years later: Zoya makes her return to Varanasi, and the old romance hesitates at the doorstep of a new reality. She reveals that she loves Akram, and she urges Kundan to help win her family’s blessing for a marriage with him. Yet Kundan’s own heart remains divided. He agrees to assist, but he also reaffirms his long-standing commitment to a different life, proposing to his childhood friend Bindiya [Swara Bhasker], a woman who has cherished him since they were children. The moment exposes the tangled threads of love, loyalty, and sacrifice that will soon pull him into a brutal collision of two worlds—the personal and the political.

On the day of Zoya and Akram’s wedding, Kundan learns a painful truth: Akram is the Sikh Jasjeet Singh Shergill he was pretending to be, and Zoya had engineered the identity to win her family’s approval. The revelation shatters the fragile equilibrium around them. In a dramatic confrontation, Kundan interrupts the ceremony and reveals the truth to Zoya’s parents, creating an irrevocable rift. The aftermath is brutal: Jasjeet is badly beaten by Zoya’s relatives, and the severed ties drive him toward a distant village. He survives, but the price of the truth is heartbreak and exile. In a bid to redeem himself, Kundan accompanies Zoya to Jasjeet’s village, only to find that the man has died from his injuries. This revelation crushes Kundan with the weight of unintended consequences—his one-sided love has cost an innocent life, and the man he planned to marry is no longer alive. In that moment, he also realizes that his dream of a life with Bindiya must be abandoned, and his family distance himself, leaving him isolated.

Homeless and haunted, Kundan wanders through temples and temples-adjacent avenues of faith, seeking penance rather than escape. A quiet encounter on the banks of the Ganga offers him a hard-won piece of counsel: do the right thing, not just bear the punishment of your sins. This turning point propels him toward Zoya’s world in Delhi, where she now leads a new political force—the All India Citizen Party (AICP), started by Jasjeet. Kundan steps into a service role at a nearby canteen, quietly distributing food and listening to the party’s people, and he discards his former fears in favor of simple, unwavering service. His plain honesty and steady demeanor win him admiration within the party, and he soon emerges as a popular, unpretentious figure whose actions speak as loudly as his words.

As Kundan’s presence grows, Zoya’s perception of him shifts from resentment to recognition of his sincerity. She begins to see the depth of his love and the selfless choices he has made. Yet her political world grows more complicated: she becomes wary of the man who could so easily upend her carefully built plans, and she grapples with the question of whether forgiveness can outpace the desire for revenge. Rashmi [Shilpi Marwaha], Zoya’s close ally and sister-figure, nudges her toward a more forgiving path, reminding her that Jasjeet’s dead dream deserves a different future.

The Chief Minister [Sujata Kumar] enters the scene with a brutal political calculus: to regain power within the AICP, Zoya must show strength, even if that strength is measured in pain. She is urged to orchestrate an injury to Kundan during a campaign speech to demonstrate dominance and resolve. Zoya finds herself pulled between a protective love for Kundan and a ruthless political strategy designed to reassert control over the party’s direction. The plan succeeds in wounding him, and Kundan ends up in an ICU, the lines between love and duty increasingly blurred.

In a moment of stark clarity, Zoya steps forward at a press conference and admits that the plan was devised by herself and the Chief Minister. The confession should heal old wounds, but it unravels into a deeper discovery: Kundan, who had known about the plan from the start, allowed himself to be hurt because his love for Zoya was greater than his own safety. She rushes to the hospital, intending to claim his forgiveness and declare her love, but fate has one final, devastating twist: Kundan dies. In his final voice-over, he imagines a chance to be reborn in the same Benaras, to fall in love again with a Zoya-like soul, and to become a Raanjha again, living the same love story in a new life.

The film closes on a meditation about love, faith, responsibility, and the fragile balance between personal longing and public duty. It is a sweeping, intimate portrait of two people who navigate forbidden love, political ambition, religious identity, and the pain that comes when good intentions collide with real consequences. A tale that asks whether love can endure the hardest truths—and whether forgiveness might be the ultimate act of faith.