Synopsis
The film is set in 1942, when the British Raj. It was a time when Indians were either working for the British or rallying in underground meetings and protests against them. In this atmosphere, Naren Singh (Anil Kapoor) falls in love with Rajeshwari "Rajjo" Pathak (Manisha Koirala), and their romance is shown developing in spite of the political and social unrest at the time.
Naren's father, Diwan Hari Singh (Manohar Singh), is a loyal British employee, while Rajjo's father Raghuvir Pathak (Anupam Kher) is a revolutionary fighting against British rule. When Naren asks Raghuvir for Rajjo's hand in marriage, Raghuvir gets expectedly livid, but Naren declares that he is willing to sacrifice everything for Rajjo and thus convinces Raghuvir of his love to her. Raghuvir relents and tells Naren to talk to his father. When Naren does so, Hari Singh is angry that his son has chosen Rajjo, the daughter of a revolutionary, but pretends that he will do anything for Naren's happiness.
Hari Singh then tricks Naren into revealing Raghuvir's secret location, and leaks the information to the British authorities. Soon, some police barge into Raghuvir's location and try to kill him, only to find him waiting for him light a bomb, completely killing them all. Rajjo, who was out at that time, realizes what has happened and runs away. She is taken into refuge by Shubhankar (Jackie Shroff), who was a compatriot of Raghuvir and had learned about his death. Under Shubhankar's tutelage, Rajjo too follows her father's path. Meanwhile, Naren is completely angry at Hari Singh for using him to kill Raghuvir and driving Raijo away from him. Promising to make up with Raijo and help her cause, he then pledges that he will even go on to become a protester or revolutionary, even if it means going against his father for it.
With that, Naren breaks off his relationship from his father and proves his point by standing against British General Douglas in front of the city, leaving him to be sentenced to hang for attempted murder. Realizing what Naren was trying to do for her, Rajjo tells Shubhankar about him. In light of Naren's devotion to the nation and his cause for its independence, Shubhankar saves him from being hanged and the two manage to finish off Hari Singh and many of the British loyalists with the help of Major Bisht (Danny Dengzongpa), who turns over a change of heart after tragically seeing his revolutionary daughter Chanda die by the British loyalists' gunfire ordered by General Douglas. With the loyalists dead, Shubankar hangs General Douglas on the same noose that was intended for Naren. The trio, along with Major Bisht and the citizens, are shown at the end to salute the Indian flag, as it is hoisted by Shubhankar.
Read more about this topic: 1942: A Love Story