| Director | Saket Chaudhary |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 132 min |
| Country | India |
| Budget | ₹14 crore |
| Box office | ₹322 crore |
Raj Batra is a wealthy and successful boutique owner who lives in the traditional Old Delhi neighbourhood of Chandni Chowk with his wife, Meeta, and their five-year-old daughter, Pia. Despite their comfortable lifestyle, the couple is deeply eager to secure Pia's admission into an elite, prestigious English-medium school in Delhi, believing it is the only way she can gain entry into high society. They set their sights on Delhi Grammar School, the top-ranked institution in the city. To satisfy the school's strict residency requirement, they leave their home and move to a luxurious villa in the upscale Vasant Vihar neighbourhood. They hire an admission consultant, Saumya, to coach them through the sophisticated interview process, but due to Raj and Meeta’s limited command of the English language, Pia’s application is ultimately rejected.
Desperate for a solution, Raj learns from one of his shop employees that his child secured a seat at a top school through the Right to education (RTE) quota, a government initiative reserved for underprivileged families. After a local broker explains how wealthy parents systematically illegally exploit this system, Raj and Meeta decide to fake their economic status. They relocate to the impoverished neighbourhood of Bharat Nagar for a month, adapting to a life of poverty to clear a background verification check. There, they form a close bond with their new neighbours, Shyam Prakash and Tulsi Prakash, a truly struggling couple who are desperately hoping their own son, Mohan, will get into Delhi Grammar School under the same quota. Unaware of the deception, Shyam and Tulsi generously teach the Batras how to survive on a meagre income, and Shyam even helps Raj secure a low-wage factory job. When the lottery results are announced, Pia successfully gains admission, but Mohan’s application is tragically rejected.
The Batras immediately move back to their affluent life in Vasant Vihar. Burdened by heavy guilt over taking a seat from a deserving child, Raj secretly makes a massive anonymous financial donation to renovate Mohan's poorly funded government school, equipping it with modern facilities and new textbooks. As Mohan begins thriving and speaking fluent English at the upgraded school, a grateful Shyam sets out to track down the anonymous benefactor to thank them. His search leads him directly to the upscale Vasant Vihar villa, where he discovers Raj's true identity and the elaborate scam they pulled in the slums. Devastated by the betrayal, Shyam storms off to expose Raj's fraud to Delhi Grammar School's principal, Lodha Singhania.
Raj and Meeta race to the school to intercept Shyam but arrive too late. However, inside the building, Shyam encounters little Pia, who greets him with pure affection. Moved by his bond with the little girl, Shyam chooses to protect her future and leaves without exposing the family to the principal. Witnessing Shyam's profound integrity only deepens Raj’s immense guilt. He goes directly into Principal Singhania's office, confesses to the entire fraud, and demands that Pia's admission be revoked so the seat can go to a deserving child. The elitist principal callously dismisses his concerns, stating that the school's reputation matters more than morality.
Refusing to comply with a broken system, Raj gatecrashes the school's packed Annual Day function. He takes the stage and delivers an impassioned speech criticising how the English language has become a tool of class discrimination in India, transforming education into a profit-driven business rather than a basic right. He leaves the stage to dead silence from the wealthy crowd, with only Meeta standing up to applaud him. Outside the gate, Raj and Meeta meet the principal of the Bharat Nagar Government School and proudly enroll Pia there, ensuring she grows up studying alongside Mohan.