The year 1992. Shahid Azmi (Rajkummar Rao), a layman residing in Deonar, gets mentally shocked to a severe extent to see the town burning in the flames of Hindu-Muslim communal riots. Not able to cope up with this lethal man-made disaster, Shahid follows Jihadi cause and leaves Mumbai to be a part of the terrorist training camp in Kashmir. But, post returning his hometown, Shahid finds his hands empty, as it was not the thing that he wanted in his life. In the meanwhile, Shahid's contact number is what the Police find in the telephone diary of one of the terrorists. Under the charges of sharing a link with the terrorists, Police arrest Shahid under TADA and he gets imprisoned for seven years. While in jail, Shahid develops a penchant for academics. Eventually, Shahid gets freed from the jail due to not getting enough evidences against him to prove him guilty. Now, Shahid turns a person with a strong aim to fulfill in his life. Saving the underprivileged innocent souls, who are imposed wrong TADA charges on them, becomes the mission of Shahid's future life journey. For bringing his mission into reality, Shahid studies law and excels in it. The human rights activist Shahid starts practicing as the professional lawyer in the year 2004 by taking up his first case. In this way, Shahid turns a messiah for all the guiltless masses. Over his fierce attitude towards his work commitments, Shahid starts getting threat calls.
Amidst of all this, Shahid falls in love with one of his clients, Mariam (Prabhleen Sandhu), who is a divorcee and has a child. Here commences a clash of Shahid's personal and professional life, turning a bit sour and taking the tale further.