Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan) is a middle-aged ex-wrestling champion, who is living a mediocre and lonely life in the small town of Haryana. Aakash Oberoi (Amit Sadh), the founder of a private mixed martial arts league, is encouraged by his father to hire an Indian wrestler to salvage the league's popularity. He travels to Haryana to make an offer to Sultan, who bluntly refuses and says that he has completely retired from wrestling. In search of the reason behind his retirement, Aakash confronts Sultan's close friend Govind (Anant Sharma), who narrates how Sultan's career began.
Eight years ago, Sultan fell in love at the sight of Aarfa Hussain (Anushka Sharma), a state-level wrestler and the daughter of a local wrestling coach. Although she was initially cold towards him, Aarfa accepted Sultan as a friend. When he began to proclaim that she was his girlfriend, she rejected him by stating that she wishes to marry an accomplished wrestler like herself. Determined to win her respect, Sultan dedicated himself to intense training and ultimately won a state-level wrestling tournament, as well as Aarfa's love.
