| Director | Jamil Dehlavi |
|---|---|
| Genre | biographical film |
| Runtime | 110 min |
| Country | Pakistan, United Kingdom |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $150,000 |
The film opens with the words of Professor Stanley Wolpert: |cquote}}
A guide takes Jinnah to 1947, where, at the Cromwell Conference with Lord Mountbatten, he demands a homeland for Indian Muslims.
In flashbacks, the guide recounts Jinnah's marriage to the Parsi Rattanbai Petit, known as Ruttie, whom he marries against her parents' wishes because of their religious differences and age gap. In 1922, Jinnah becomes politically isolated as he devotes himself to promoting moderation amid growing Hindu-Muslim hostility, straining his marriage. Ruttie eventually leaves him with their daughter, and they separate. Her subsequent death from cancer deeply affects Jinnah and strengthens his determination to establish Pakistan. He returns to British India and pursues the two-nation theory. At the Muslim League's 1940 annual conference, he assures thousands of Muslims that Pakistan will be created.
The Guide asks Jinnah whom he loves most apart from Ruttie and his sister Fatima. He names his daughter, who had married a Parsi man without his permission.
In 1947, Muslim fanatics attack a Muslim League conference, arguing that a Muslim state cannot grant equal rights to women and non-Muslims. Jinnah rejects their extremism, insisting that Islam needs people with the vision to build the country. The partition of India follows, and Jinnah and the Guide witness Muslims being massacred during migration by Hindus and Sikhs. Jinnah becomes the first Governor-General of Pakistan and appoints Liaquat Ali Khan as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. He bids farewell to Dina, who promises to visit but remains in Bombay with her husband and child.
After independence and the end of British rule, Pakistan emerges as a new nation and refuge for the subcontinent's Muslims, and Jinnah receives the title Quaid-e-Azam. He awaits the first train carrying Muslim refugees from India, only to find everyone aboard dead except an infant.
Fatimah and Lady Edwina Mountbatten visit refugees, prompting Lady Mountbatten to recognise the importance of independence. Meanwhile, the Hindu Maharaja of Kashmir, Sir Hari Singh, delays choosing between India and Pakistan. Mountbatten betrays Jinnah, and amid an October 1947 revolt aided by Pakistani irregulars, the Maharaja accedes to India and Indian troops are airlifted into Kashmir. Jinnah orders Pakistani troops into the region, beginning a war between India and Pakistan that contributes to the continuing Kashmir conflict.
The film concludes with Jinnah and Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India, before a Heavenly Court, where Jinnah accuses Mountbatten of betrayal. Jinnah and his angelic judge then return to the scene of Muslim refugees, where Jinnah expresses sorrow over their suffering during the division of Punjab. The refugees respond by chanting "Pakistan Zindabad", ending the film.