The film opens with the words of Professor
Stanley Wolpert: A guide takes Jinnah to 1947 where, at the Cromwell Conference with
Lord Mountbatten, Jinnah
demands a homeland for Indian Muslims. In flashbacks, the guide recounts the marital life of Jinnah, when he falls in love and marries a
Parsi named
Rattanbai Petit, nicknamed Ruttie, against the will of her parents, mainly on grounds of religion and the difference in their ages. In 1922, Jinnah faces political isolation as he devotes every spare moment to be the voice of moderation in a nation torn by Hindu-Muslim antipathy. This creates tension between Rattanbai and Jinnah. She finally leaves him with their daughter, and they eventually separate. The subsequent death of Rattanbai from cancer greatly impacts Jinnah and his fight for Pakistan. He returns to British India to start a political journey of the
two-nation theory. At the Muslim League annual conference in 1940, Jinnah addresses thousands of Muslims and gives them the assurance of the birth of Pakistan. The Guide questions Jinnah as to who he loves the most apart from Ruttie and his sister Fatima. He then mentions his
daughter, who married a
Parsi boy without his permission. While addressing a Muslim League conference in 1947, Muslim fanatics attack the conference and argue that if Pakistan is to be a Muslim state, it cannot give equal rights to women and non-Muslims. Jinnah replies that Islam doesn't need fanatics but people with vision who can build the country. However, the
partition of India is carried out, and the Guide and Jinnah witness the massacre of Muslims in migration done by Hindus and
Sikhs. Jinnah is sworn in as the first
Governor-General of Pakistan and announces
Liaquat Ali Khan as the first
Prime Minister of Pakistan. Jinnah then says goodbye to his daughter. Dina promises that she will visit him but stays behind in
Bombay with her husband and
child. After independence and the end of
British rule, Pakistan stands as a new nation and sanctuary for the Muslims of the subcontinent. Jinnah is given the title of
Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan. Jinnah waits for the first train carrying Muslims who left India for Pakistan, but when the train arrives, they are all found dead save for one infant child. Fatimah and
Lady Edwina Mountbatten visit refugees and Lady Mountbatten learns the importance of independence. Mountbatten betrays Jinnah as the
Hindu Maharaja of
Kashmir,
Sir Hari Singh, stalls his decision on which nation to join. With the population in revolt in October 1947, aided by Pakistani irregulars, the Maharaja accedes to India; Indian troops are airlifted in. Jinnah objects to that and orders that Pakistani troops move into Kashmir, which leads to a
war between India and Pakistan then and afterward from time to time in the
Kashmir conflict. The film jumps into a final scene showing Jinnah and Lord
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (last
Viceroy of India) in a Heavenly Court. Jinnah is fighting a case against him over his betrayal. The film ends with Jinnah and his angel judge travelling back in time to the scene of Muslim refugees. Jinnah expresses his sorrow over the plight of the refugees during the division of
Punjab. They chant "
Pakistan Zindabad" in response, which ends the film. == Cast ==