A reckless yet brilliant squadron leader and his team of elite fighter pilots face mortal dangers and inner demons as they unite for a deadly mission.
Group Captain Rakesh Jai Singh (Rocky) is assigned for a team of fighter pilots called Air Dragons.Which consists of Meenal Rathore (Minni),Sartaj Gill (Taj),Basheer Khan (Bash) and the best fighter pilot Shamsher Pathania (Patty).Rocky and Patty share a grief as he believes a co pilot Naina (Enjay) died due to his negligence and old habits die soon. Patty and Mini come close to each other during their mission and fall in love. On the other end Azhar Akthar an international terrorist plans an attack with Pakistan on Indian Army Base which leads to major loss of lives. But Patty and his team backfire and destroy the Pakistani air base. Aftermath rises a conflict between the two countries where Pakistani's launch another attack on Indian army where Patty,Taj and Bash cross the LOC and enter Pakistani even thou Rocky had instructed not to cross the LOC .Bash and Taj plane crashes and both are termed dead. Rocky then raises and inquiry on Patty for not following instructions but Rocky proves him not guilty and has him transferred to Hyderabad Air Force Academy as an instructor.—[email protected]
Maqsood Abrar (Mushtaq Kak) is a Jihadi from Jaish-E-Mohammed who confers with the Generals of ISI, who lament that India has brought terrorism under control in the Kashmir valley and destroyed years of planning in creating a network of eager young Jihadis willing to sacrifice their life for the cause of Kashmiri freedom.Majeed Khan (Sanjeev Jaiswal) works for Maqsood and handles all logistics for Kashmir.
In Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, a terrorist organization led by Azhar Akhtar (Rishabh Sawhney), plan to attack India, targeting the Srinagar Air Force Station base of the Indian Air Force. Azhar is an experienced terrorist with strikes against Indian Embassy in Kabul and the bombing of Mazir-I-Sharif. Azhar plans to use Indian kids for the mission, so that any Pakistani involvement in the attack cannot be proven.
A Quick Response Team called "Air Dragons" is formed under the command of Group captain Rakesh "Rocky" Jai Singh (Anil Kapoor). This unit is designated to be the first responders to counter any threat In the Srinagar Valley. The unit consists of highly skilled and top combat aviators of the Air Force. The team includes Squadron Leaders Shamsher "Patty" Pathania (Hrithik Roshan), Minal "Minni" Rathore (Deepika Padukone), Sartaj "Taj" Gill (Karan Singh Grover), Basheer "Bash" Khan (Akshay Oberoi), Squadron Leader Rajan "Unni" Unnithan (Mahesh Shetty) and Sukhdeep "Sukhi" Singh (Baveen Singh). While Patty, Taj, Unni and Bash are from the Sukhoi 30 Fighter crew, Minni and Sukhi are helicopter pilots flying the Dhruv ALH.
Saanchi (Sanjeeda Sheikh) is Taj's wife. Wing Commander Harish "Nauty" Nautiyal (Chandan K Anand) is Rocky's number 2.One of the scenarios they train for is that Minni and Sukhi have to drop a commando team in enemy area and pick them up in 15 minutes. Taj and Patty have to provide air cover, while Rocky and Nauty will try to penetrate the air cover to shoot the helicopters down.Rocky lures Patty away from the choppers, leaving only Taj to protect against Nauty. Patty manages to "Kill" Rocky using the cobra maneuver but fails the mission as Nauty gets through to the choppers. Rocky is livid with Patty since his mission was to protect the choppers and there could have been more than 2 enemy fighters.
During training, the team members bond, and Minni develops romantic feelings for Patty. Minni's father Abhijeet (Ashutosh Rana) never approved of her Air Force career. He only wanted her to complete her studies and get married. Patty's father (Talat Aziz) lives in Jammu.
However, Patty is haunted by his past after he lost his fiance (who was a chopper pilot) in a previous mission.Azhar smuggles 200 Kgs of RDX into Srinagar through Majeed, which is captured by the forces. But this was part of his plan, and he gets a small amount captured to smuggle an even larger cache of RDX into Kashmir. The Pakistani air force moves 2 F-16 squadrons close to PoK, along with their own top fighter pilots, including ace Red Nose.The team learn of an attack on CRPF soldiers in Pulwama, organized by Akhtar. 70 soldiers lost their lives and 80 are injured.
In response, the Indian Air Force, along with RAW agent Zarina Begum, (Chandra Shekhar Dutta) plan a counterattack on Akhtar's base in Balakot. Patty is sent to Delhi with Air Commodore Debyajyoti "Debu" Biswas (Vinay Varma) to plan the strike. Pakistan is anticipating a Uri type of attack and is prepared to repel the same. Patty presents a plan to attack Jabba Top near Balakot, which an explosives training center for Jaish-E-Mohammad. 300 terrorists are being trained there and Azhar could also be there. The mission is planned from Gwalior air base and all Srinagar bases will remain inactive. The date is 25th Feb, when PM will be on a jungle safari and all senior IAF officers will be attending the farewell party of the Air Officer Commanding in Chief of Western Air Command (Sanjiv Chopra). The attack will involve 12 mirage and 2 Sukhoi aircraft.Despite succeeding in the mission, the aftermath causes conflict between India and Pakistan. Azhar survives the attack. One F-16 manages to get in the air and tracks the 2 Sukhoi. The F-16 led by Red Nose gets a missile lock on Taj, but Patty gets a lock on the F-16 to get him to disengage and return to base.The Pakistani Air Force launch a retaliatory attack on Indian base as a result.
Despite Rocky's orders, Patty, Taj, and Bash cross the Indo-Pakistan border. Taj and Bash's plane is shot down by Pakistani pilots led by Red Nose leading to them getting captured. Patty was separated from them while chasing a bandit and is not able to reach them in time. Red Nose taunts Patty that he was not able to save Naina and now he lost Taj as well. Patty returns back to India in his Sukhoi.
Rocky has Patty removed from the Air Dragons unit and he is posted as a flying instructor at the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad.It is revealed to Minni by Rocky that he holds a grudge against Patty for letting his fiance, Squadron Leader Naina Jai Singh "Enjay"(Seerat Mast) (revealed to be Rocky's younger sister), die in a previous rescue mission. Indian commandos were pinned down by enemy artillery fire. Naina was to rescue them, and Patty was flying cover for the chopper operations. Patty could not see the exact location of the enemy artillery. Rocky says that Patty knew that the mission was dangerous and yet he encouraged Naina to get close to enemy artillery positions to find their coordinates, which led to a shell hitting her chopper and her death.
At the academy, Patty guides a trainee pilot named Neha to land her aircraft safely. She had panicked on her first solo flight due to strong cross winds.
Patty whose mind is battling with the events of his past is dissatisfied with his life in the air force. He decides to put in his papers and leave the force. He shares his decision with his boss, the Chief Instructor of the Academy, Air Commodore Abhinder 'Abhi' Bali (Ramon Chibb). Bali tells him to take a break and go on Leave instead. That way he can have time to think his decision over.
Patty goes back to his home in Jammu and reconnects with his colleagues at the base.
The Pakistani government announce that they will be escorting Taj and Bash safely back to India. However, as the team wait for them to arrive, Sukhi (who had flown in a cargo helicopter to bring them back) tells Patty that Bash was brutally murdered by Akhtar and have imprisoned a badly injured Taj.
Turns out Zarina Begum was a Pakistani double agent, who had betrayed India. Zarina reveals Taj's location to IAF, but then tells Azhar exactly when the Indian forces will be mounting an attack on their base. Pakistan shuts down their air space and activates their air assets to make it impossible for Indian Air Force to enter Pakistan.Determined to rescue him, Patty defies orders and joins a covert mission. An IL-76 transports a team of commandos to Azhar's base. It also hides 2 Sukhoi fighters that cross into Pakistan by piggy backing on the IL-76's radar cross section.As Pakistan scrambles fighters, the Sukhoi destroy the runways, so their fighters cannot take off from Kotli and Rawalakot. In another twist, Zarina turns out to be an Indian agent, who was misleading Azhar. Indian commandos reach Azhar's base much before expected.
The commandos rescue Taj and Minni arrives in her chopper to pick them up. But Sukhi's chopper is shot down by Azhar. Meanwhile Red Nose arrives in the air and shoots down one Sukhoi. Minni is ordered to go back and rescue Sukhi.Patty gets into the reserve Sukhoi and asks for permission to take off. Rocky allows Patty to go since he is the best fighter in the air and India needs him. Rocky joins Patty, and they take off and head into enemy territory to rescue their colleagues.Patty engages with all Pak fighters and defeats them, including Red Nose, while Rocky goes to provide air cover to the commandos. Patty kills Red Nose by ramming his plane into the F-16 and escapes with parachute.
Patty is able to rescue Taj by reaching Azhar's base. Patty saves Sukhi from being killed by Azhar and kills Akhtar instead. Minni brings her chopper around to pick up all the survivors and heads back to India.In the end, Minni and Patty embrace, celebrating their victory.
