Dahek is a story of love between a Hindu boy Sameer Roshan (Akshaye Khanna) and a Muslim girl, Neelima Bakshi (Sonali Bendre). They fall in love unaware of each other's religion, as their names are not obviously suggestive of their community. They face family opposition. Particularly from Neelima's uncle Jabbar (Danny Denzongpa), a staunch Muslim has served a prison sentence for murder of his sister's husband who had married against his wishes. Sameer elopes with Neelima. This episode is magnified by communal forces into a very volatile political issue.