Intrigue

Story of Rani Lakshmibai, one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and her resistance to the British Rule.

When Dixt, a minister in Jhansi princely state, sees Varanasi-born Manikarnika, he proposes that she marry Gangadar Rao, prince of Jhansi. Sadashiv Rao plots with British officers to conquer Jhansi as he is promised a stake in it after conquering Jhansi. After the birth of Lakshmi and Gangadar Rao's son Sadashiv Rao sees his place in fear and poisons the holy water during the child's naming ceremony; he passes away and leaves Gangadar Rao on his deathbed. Gangadar Rao decides to adopt a son and Sadashiv Rao feels guilty of not adopting his son instead a toddler who comes running to Lakshmi Bai after Gangadar Rao's death. The East India Company decides to conquer Jhansi as it has no male ruler, but Lakshmi Bai decides to take the throne herself and fight for Jhansi.—alex.mjacko@gmail.com

The film begins with the birth of Manikarnika in the ghats of Varanasi. She is raised by the Bajirao (Suresh Oberoi) in Bithoor and her father, Moropant (Manish Wadhwa). A young blossoming Manu is spotted by Jhansi's minister, Dixit-Ji (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), slaying a tiger. Impressed by her feat, he proposes marriage between her and the King of Maratha ruled princely state of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao (Jisshu Sengupta) in 1842. The marriage is celebrated and attended by the Jhansi residents among whom a loud, spunky woman named JhalkarBai (Ankita Lokhande) makes her way to the front along with her husband Puran Singh (Vaibhav Tatwawaadi) to take a peek at their new queen. Manikarnika's (Kangana Ranaut) name is officially changed to "Lakshmi Bai."

The newly wed king and queen spend time together and develop a strong bond. Queen Lakshmi Bai learns and refutes the traditional womanly duties and takes a keen interest in learning about the political atmosphere of Jhansi and the state of the country instead. She is outraged as she discovers that her husband, the King of Jhansi, has to bow his head to a British officer, Gordon (Edward Sonnenblick). She does not bow her head enraging Gordon.

Jhalkari Bai's calf 'Nandu' is abducted by some British officers prompting her to go after them only to get badly beaten up. When Lakshmi Bai learns about this cruelty, she confronts the officers speaking to them in fluent English to their surprise and announcing that all the livestock in Jhansi is the property of the king and will not be taken by the East India Company without permission. Lakshmi Bai returns Nandu and the two women develop a friendship. Amidst celebrations, Lakshmi Bai learns she is pregnant and is overjoyed. She gives birth to a boy, Damodar Rao.

Sadashiv Rao (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub), Gangadhar's brother, is seen plotting against the king with the British officers who have promised him a part of the estate when Jhansi is conquered by the company. Sadashiv is briefly seen side-eyeing a maid to carry holy water to the naming ceremony of the baby, implying that he is behind the poisoning that eventually kills Damodar Rao and leaves the King weak and on his deathbed. To have an heir for the succession of the Jhansi throne, the King decides to adopt a child. Much to Sadashiv's dismay, his son is not adopted and instead, a civilian toddler that happens to run towards Lakshmi Bai is named the heir. His name is changed as Lakshmi Bai instinctively calls him Damodar. Sadashiv revolts and refuses to bow down to the future queen regent Lakshmi Bai and is banished from Jhansi.

A few months later, when the King Gangadhar Rao dies, the East India Company expects to apply the Doctrine of Lapse and annex the kingdom of Jhansi as it does not have a male heir. Lakshmi Bai does not relent and refuses to accept the practices of widowhood of those times. Instead, she takes on the responsibility of the throne in order to fulfill her promise to her late husband. When the British force her to vacate the palace, she walks gracefully into the village and is welcomed and greeted by a massive parade of villagers led by Jhalkari Bai. This further enrages the company officers. The queen continues to live among the civilians to quietly create a strategy to get her kingdom back.

The company requests the British government to appoint Sir Hugh Rose (Richard Keep) to salvage the situation and remove Lakshmi Bai from the throne permanently. Knowing very well that she will soon be attacked again, Lakshmi Bai begins training her own army and especially women to fight. In the meanwhile, Sadashiv conjures a mutiny resulting in the deaths of many innocent British women and children in addition to British officers and blames it on Rani Lakshmi Bai to prompt Hugh Rose to attack and demolish her. On the way to Jhansi, Rose hangs a girl simply because her name is Lakshmi.

During the siege of Jhansi, the Queen valiantly steps into the battlefield to destroy the British cannons strategically placed in front of a temple (which her Indian forces refused to attack). The strong castle walls keep the queen and her army safe until Sadashiv Rao divulges secrets about the castle to the British who finally break the siege and manage and attack, resulting in the death of Gaus-Baba (Danny Denzongpa). Jhalkari Bai, despite discovering that she is pregnant becomes a decoy pretending to be the queen. She manages to get all the British soldiers to follow her and distracts them enough for Lakshmi Bai to safely escape the castle with Damodar Rao. Jhalkari Bai sacrifices herself in a major gun powder explosion killing numerous British officers along with.

Having lost everything but her love for the country, Lakshmi Bai escapes to Kalpi to reunite with Tantia Tope (Atul Kulkarni) and other allies. She recaptures Gwalior and motivates the Maratha soldiers to participate in the independence war. With a heavy heart, Lakshmi Bai leaves Damodar Rao with her childhood friend and attendant, Kashi (Mishti) and leads an attack on the British army. Lakshmi Bai sets out to attack the huge British army but then faces a certain defeat. At the end of the film, Rani Lakshmi Bai looks at Hugh Rose and sets fire on herself to avoid being captured and killed by the British.