Shahid Kapoor played the lead and co-stars Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor, and Kay Kay Menon. Irrfan Khan appears in an extended special appearance. The film is both a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet and an adaptation of Basharat Peer's memoir Curfewed Night, set amidst the insurgency-hit Kashmir conflicts of 1995 and civilian disappearances. Haider, a young student, and a poet, returns to Kashmir at the peak of the conflict to seek answers about his father's disappearance and ends up being tugged into the politics of the state. In 1995, during the insurgency in Kashmir, Hilaal Meer (Narendra Jha), a doctor based in Srinagar, agrees to perform an appendectomy on Ikhlaque, the leader of a pro-separatist militant group. To avoid detection, he performs the surgery at his house, much to the chagrin of his wife Ghazala (Tabu), who questions his allegiance. The following day, during a military raid, Hilaal is accused of harbouring terrorists. A shootout ensues at his home, during which Ikhlaque is killed and Hilaal is taken away for questioning. The doctor's house is bombed subsequently to kill any other militant hiding inside. Several days later, Hilaal and Ghazala's son, Haider (Shahid Kapoor), returns from Aligarh Muslim University to seek answers about his father's disappearance. Upon arrival, he is shocked to find his mother singing and laughing along with her brother-in-law, Khurram (Kay Kay Menon). Unable to understand his mother's behaviour, he begins searching for his father in various police stations and detention camps with the help of his childhood sweetheart Arshia Lone (Shraddha Kapoor), a journalist. He is reminded of his mother's words that "revenge only results in revenge" and thus decides to let Khurram live. Khurram begs Haider to kill him to free him from the burden of guilt and to avenge his father's death, but Haider doesn't oblige Khurram, instead ignores him and leaves. by Snehha Suresh