Plot

The story of Laal Singh Chaddha, a simple man whose extraordinary journey will fill you with love, warmth and happiness.

Laal Singh Chaddha a man with low IQ level is travelling in a train and happens to tell his story to his co passenger with background of current events happening in India finding it interesting more fellow passengers join in.He was born during the Indo Pak war where his grandfather was a martyr hence he was named after him having a low IQ level no school wants to admit him but finally a priest of Catholic school does so seeing the fighting spirit in his mother.The school children try to avoid him but he befriends Roopa Dsouza his his classmate and bonds very well with her but Roopa wants to be rich as her drunkard father always beats her mother for money one day leading to her death.After death of her mother Roopa goes to stay with her grandmother who turns out to be maid working in Lal's house and both start to spend more time together and as kid Lal eventually proposes her.Years later Roopa and Lal study together at a college in Delhi and Lal still has same feelings for her.But Roopa's ambition is to got to Mumbai to be an actress an become rich while Lal joins the Indian army.During his term in army Lal meets Bala an both become good friends and plan a business together but Bala passes away in the war.After his army service Lal decides to full fill dream of Bala and starts the business planned with him where he is assisted by Mohdmmad Paji who was once a terrorist and Lal saved his life during war.Lal's life and business is doing well but he still has a place for Roopa whom he hasn't met since years and waits for return.—alex.mjacko@gmail.com

Laal narrates his story to a woman passenger (Aaryaa Sharma) sitting in-front of Laal in the train

Laal Singh Chaddha (Aamir Khan) was a boy with weak legs (living in a village near Pathankot), though his mother (Mona Singh) was supportive and he had a best friend named Rupa D'Souza (Kareena Kapoor). Mrs Chaddha taught Laal that there was no work in the world that he couldn't do. Laal is not the smartest kid in the village, and has trouble getting admission in the local missionary school. She agrees to work as a maid at the school principal's house to secure an admission for Laal. Laal first met and befriends Rupa at school. Rupa is Laal's only friend in life.

Laal watched the 1983 world cup on TV. When he visited his Mausi in Amritsar, he witnessed Operation Blue Star. When he visited his Mausi in Delhi, he met a young Shah Rukh Khan, and taught him his favorite dance move, which became SRK's signature move later in his career. In Delhi, Laal was nearby when Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards. In retaliation, Sikhs were massacred in the streets. To save Laal, his mother cut his hair.

One day, a group of bullies at the school started pelting stones at Laal. The stones broke Laal's leg braces into pieces and he realized he could run. One day, Laal went to visit Rupa and found her sitting outside her house sobbing. Her father was physically abusing her mother as he wanted rs 10 for his drinks. Rupa prayed to God to make her rich. Rupa's mother died, and her father was taken by police. Rupa was sent to live with her grandmother, who used to work at Laal's house. Laal was happy, because now he and Rupa were always together.

Laal's mother sent him and Rupa to Hindu College in Delhi. Laal witnesses Advani's Rath Yatra. At university, Laal took part in track, whereas Rupa started taking part in modeling competitions. Rupa dreamed of becoming a model in Mumbai and becoming rich. Laal joins the NCC in college. Mandal commission protests happened. Babri Masjid sparked riots all over the country. Laal joined the Army (since all the men on his mother's side had always joined the army and died on the battlefield), and Rupa went to Mumbai to pursue her dreams. Laal met Balaraju Bodi (Naga Chaitanya) in the Army, who became his friend. Bala pitched the idea of opening an undergarment factory with Laal once they left the Army, and Laal agreed. Bala's family knew everything about making undergarments, and were experts in this area.. Laal is obedient and fast. He is a fast learner. Laal learns how to make undergarments from Bala. Sushmita Sen is crowned the Miss Universe 1994. Laal remembers Rupa and visits her in Mumbai. She was arrested for nudity.

In 1999, India was at war with Pakistan at Kargil. Laal and Bala were in the same battalion. Rupa had told Laal to start running as soon as his life was in danger. When the Pakistani soldiers had an advantage, he ran, but realized that Bala was left behind. He went back, but every time he went back, he found another soldier who was injured and asking for help. He also saved a Pakistani commander, not knowing he was the enemy. Mohammed lost both his legs and went into depression. Laal couldn't save Bala, but was awarded a medal by the Indian Government for saving 5 soldiers. Laal opts for a medical discharge from the Army, since he has been permanently downgraded due to his injury and can never fight in a war again.

Rupa never responded to any letters that Laal sent her. She had become the mistress of a gangster who took advantage of her and lied about fulfilling her dreams of making her a movie actress (parallels are made to the controversial relationship of the infamous gangster Abu Salem and Monica Bedi). The gangster never gives her the film roles that he had promised her. Laal went to meet her and saw the gangster slap her; Laal responded by beating him up. Rupa told him that he couldn't keep saving her and that he would have to let her be. Rupa knew that she and Laal loved each other unconditionally, but she wanted to be rich at any cost. Mohammed meets Laal and curses him for saving his life. He realizes that Laal is a simpleton and has a drink with him. Laal shares his plan of opening an undergarments factory.

Laal finally opened a business for inner-wear (The factory is set up in Rupa's old room, in Laal's mother's house) but didn't know how to market his product. Then, Mohammed Baaji (Manav Vij), the Pakistani commander Laal had saved, joined the team. Mohammed tries to discount the price to move the product, but nothing works. Mohammed had the idea if the brand was named after a girl, then maybe their sales would increase. Laal knew of only one girl, so he renamed his company Rupa (a reference to the knitwear company). The sales started to grow, and soon the company was selling underwear to all of India. Laal gives 50% of the profits to Bala's wife. Mohammed witnesses Pakistani terrorists attack Mumbai. After a while, Mohammed decided to go back to his country and open a school, as he wants to use education as a tool to turn youngsters like AJmal Kasab away from terrorism. Laal's mother also passed away from cancer, leaving him alone.

Laal dedicated his time to tending to the land his mother left him. Rupa visited him one day (she stayed with for a few weeks. Laal proposed to her but she declined. But that night she had sex with Laal), but quickly the police came searching for her as she had links to the gangster. She was sent to prison for six months without telling Laal. Based on her information, the gangster Abbas Haji was arrested and convicted for murders. This sparked negative emotions for Laal which he struggled to manage, so he started running to try to escape them. Other people thought he might be running for some great purpose, and the media started covering his journey. His run covered almost every inch of the country. After months of running (4 yrs 7 months and change), he suddenly stopped. People had started running with him. They asked him why he stopped, expecting a philosophical answer. Laal said that he was tired and that he wanted to go back home.

When Laal reached home, he was pleasantly surprised to know that Rupa had written him a lot of letters. She had served her sentence and was now living in Chandigarh. Laal met Rupa and found out that she had a kid named Aman and that he was the father. Laal was overjoyed. Rupa was suffering from a terminal illness. Laal decided to marry her. After Rupa's death, Laal took Aman to the same school that he had gone to, feeling that his life had come full circle.