Plot

A radio broadcaster's intense attraction to a mysterious woman opens the door to a tidal wave of powerful emotions and desires.

Amar Varma, a producer for Indian news radio, meets an enigmatic woman at a railroad station and then again at a hill station. He falls in love with her, but the woman, who calls herself Meghna, rejects and leaves him although she seems to be interested. Later, Varma agrees to marry his family's choice, Preeti. But suddenly Meghna is back, and what is the secret that she holds?—<sunilm@nwu.edu>

Amar Varma is sent on a temporary assignment from New Delhi to one of the northern provinces as a journalist for All India Radio. While there, he becomes curious about an illegally formed separatist movement that is committing acts of terrorism to free themselves of India's rule. He secretly meets the head of the group and interviews him--but can't comprehend the group's grievances against the government. "We are all Indians, aren't we?" he asks naively. He also meets a mysterious village woman named Meghna at a train station and then later in town, and is immediately drawn to the sadness in her tired eyes. Later, she claims that all the laughter left her when she was 8 years old and had never returned. She shows absolutely no interest in Amar, but his obsession only grows and he continues to chase after her even after being beaten up badly by her brothers. Finally, he is called back to the capitol and realizes reluctantly that this is a love that is not meant to be. Upon returning, he discovers that his family has found a woman whom they want him to marry. This potential bride comes in the form of Preeti, an adorable, westernized woman who in truth makes a much better match for Amar than did his village fantasy. Pushing his love into the background, he agrees to marry Preeti, and a wedding date is scheduled--but then Meghna shows up on his doorstep asking for a place to stay, and he lets her in. She is, in fact, in Delhi to commit a horrific act of terrorism....—Hariharan

Amarkanth Varma is employed with All India Radio as a reporter who is dispatched to cover festivities in the northeastern part of India. While waiting for a train at a remote and isolated railway station, he comes across an attractive young woman who refuses to help him. Both meet again, and this time she asks him to leave her alone because she says that she is married. Thereafter, her relatives severely beat up Amarkanth. He finds out during the beating that, in fact, she is unmarried. On his recovery he is unable to get her out of his mind. They meet again, and this time she identifies herself as his wife, even tells him to call her Meghna, and both become fairly intimate on a bus journey. Then the next day she vanishes. His search for her is in vain. Heartbroken and under pressure from his family, he agrees to marry a woman named Preeti Nair. On the day of his engagement to Preeti, Meghna shows up at his house and asks him to let her and a friend stay there for a few days. Amarkanth's family readily agrees, not knowing that this time Meghna has come with a private and deadly agenda of her own that will shake the very roots of the Varma family and India as a whole.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

In this story of the clash between love and ideology, the focus is on Amarkant Varma, a deceased army officer's son. As a program executive for All India Radio, he travels all over India to interview citizens to mark the 50th anniversary of Indian independence. On one of his trips, he meets and falls for an intriguing and mysterious woman, whom he finds out is named Meghna, and who seems to enjoy leading him on. He follows her all the way to Ladakh, and after only two days together, she leaves him to join a group of insurgents on a mission. Heartbroken, Amar agrees to marry Preeti, a woman of his mother's choice. Meanwhile, Meghna is chosen to lead a suicide mission on the Republic Day Parade, and when she runs into Amar again where the mission is to take place, their destinies intertwine.—Q. Leo Rahman

Amarkant "Amar" Varma (Shahrukh Khan), an All-India Radio program executive living in Delhi, India, is dispatched to the troubled North-Eastern region of India to report from there on the situation pertaining to the approaching 50th Anniversary of Indian independence. There, he interviews a terrorist leader on his group's motivation and ethics. The chief blames the Indian Government for human rights violations and poverty in the region. The chief states the Liberationists do not wish to enter into any dialogue with the government and justify their resistance in Northeast India.

On his way there, during a rainy night, Amar is stranded for hours at Haflong railway station to catch the Barak Valley Express. As he waits, he tries to have a smoke and asks a mysterious person for either a match or a lighter. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blows off the person's shawl, revealing a beautiful woman.

He comes across Meghna (Manisha Koirala) at a railway station and chats up with her. He tries to strike up a conversation. She ignores him. He persists and she eventually asks him for a cup of tea. Amar leaves to get her a cup of tea, only to find her gone already on a train with three mysterious men.

Amar reaches his destination and spots the same woman in Silchar. He attempts to talk to her, but she says she cannot recall meeting him before. Sometime later, Amar describes his encounter with the woman, over the radio, which she hears. He again spots her at a post office in Silchar. At this juncture, she tells him to leave her alone. Amar then resorts to stalking and seeks her our near her place of dwelling and tells her he loves her "Dil Se" (English equivalent: from the heart). To discourage him, Meghna tells him that she is married, and leaves.

Amar feels embarrassed for flirting with a married woman, and sincerely wishes to apologize to her. He arranges a meeting with her to do so, but she brings two mysterious men with her, who subsequently take Amar away and beat him. This harsh experience invigorates Amar to find Meghna again.

Amar learns that the men are presumably her brothers and that she had lied about her being married. He rejoices in this discovery, despite being badly bruised and bloody. He reaches her home and learns from the locals that she has left. Amar then goes to the post office where he initially spots her and bribes the PCO owner into giving him her contact details and learns that she is telephoning to Ladakh. Subsequently, Amar travels to Leh, and while recording the Sindhu Darshan Festival, a suicide bomber is chased and shot dead by the Indian military. Amar spots the woman again. As the woman and Amar board a bus, military officers question each passenger before the bus is allowed to leave. Amar tells the officers that he is reporting on the festival, and the woman falsely tells the officers that she is travelling with Amar.

The bus breaks down and the passengers are forced to walk a two-day journey to their destination. Amar nearly loses Meghna again but manages to get hold of her and confronts her, angered about the fact she had used him, before proceeding to accuse her of being a morally loose tease. She tells him her name and that the two men who beat him up were her brothers. Amar tries to aggressively force himself up on Meghna, which causes her a painful anxiety attack.

She reveals a traumatic personal history and let's slip that if they were to be together, she would want eight children. During the pair's two day walk they have a whirlwind adventure through the desert. The two end up travelling together and recuperate near one another in the desert overnight.

Though the two fall for each other, Meghna slips away and leaves Amar to return to the safety of Delhi alone. Upon his return, he finds that his family wants him to meet Preeti Nair (Preity Zinta), a potential bride. Amar and Preeti both agree to get married. Preeti confides that she was recently rejected in love and gets Amar to reveal that he was also just dumped. On their date, Amar spots one of Meghna's associates, Kim, who bashed him earlier. Amar chases him down to Connaught Place, where he loses track of the man. Unbeknownst to Amar, the man kills himself with a cyanide pill after being stopped by local police. Because of the extremist nature of the situation, the police relinquish the incident to the CBI.

Then Meghna shows up in Delhi out of nowhere at Amar's house, on the day he is to be engaged to Preeti and asks for a place to stay. Amar and his family let her stay at their house, and Amar arranges for a job for her at the radio station.

Amar continues to pine for Meghna, not knowing she arrived in Delhi as part of a Liberationists group which has planned multiple suicide attacks in New Delhi at the upcoming 50th Delhi Republic Day parade. She stays in Amar's residence to escape from the CBI inquiry operation. At one point, Meghna expresses misgivings about her plans to kill innocent civilians. She is scolded by a member of her group and reminded of her duty to their cause.

Based on an eyewitness identification of the Connaught Place incident, Amar is now a prime suspect of the CBI. He is questioned by police and pieces together that Meghna is involved in something dangerous. Amar finds Meghna and questions her motives. She finally reveals to Amar that her name is actually Moina, and as a child, she had been a rape victim of the army. She describes villages being burned to the ground, and family members being raped and murdered. She accuses Amar of having no understanding of her history. She says she seeks justice and liberation through her activities. Amar infers she is planning a suicide attack on the Indian army and the President of India during Republic Day. While trying to grab at a cyanide necklace hanging from her neck, Amar gets arrested for harassing the woman.

In a separate scene, the CBI convinces the Army general of India to grant permission to conduct security checks of all the Army convoys and tankers participating in the parade. An associate of Moina's is privy to the government's secret security plans. Moina's associates bribe the police officers holding Amar to release him. They follow him out of the police station and assault him again. Amar fights back and renders his attacker unconscious. He then answers a call from Moina, which she had placed on his attacker's mobile phone. Amar pleads with Moina to stop all this and marry him. Moina tearfully says that it is too late and that her fate is sealed. The scene ends with the sounds of bullets, which imply Amar has been shot and killed.

But Amar returns home, beaten and bloody, only to find out from Preeti that Amar's mother is also being questioned and that Moina's location is at Sunder Nagar. Preeti asks if he has any intention of marrying her, and Amar says he's the only one who can stop Moina. Amar is arrested again and unable to convince the CBI that he is not working with the terrorists. He says he is in love with Moina and that he met her while interviewing an extremist leader. He says he wants to prevent them from perpetrating an attack. The CBI is not convinced. They sedate him for further interrogation later. Through sheer will, Amar can resist the sedative effects of the injection he received. He escapes from the CBI and continues his relentless pursuit of Moina.

The next day Moina is prepared for her role in a suicide attack, as an explosive device is concealed under her dress. Amar finds her. He expresses his undying love for her and his desire to be with her. He pleads with her to leave with him, so the two of them can start fresh in a new place. He asks her to say that she loves him. When she does not answer, he persists. Desperate, he asks her to at least let him die with her. He pulls her towards him and continues to plead with her to say she loves him. She embraces him. As the two embrace one another, they cry, and the bomb carried by Moina explodes, killing them both.