The story begins with a narration of the independence of Bangladesh after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Amongst those affected by the partition are two orphans: Bikram Bose (Ranveer Singh) and Bala Bhattacharya (Arjun Kapoor). They meet Lateef (Pankaj Tripathi), who offers them food in exchange for smuggling guns. One of Lateef's customers, an army officer, wants one of the boys as his sex slave; if Lateef refuses, his daughter will be taken. Lateef chooses Bala at first, but Bikram insists that he will go instead. Bala refuses to leave his best friend, and returns to save Bikram from the officer, whom they kill. This makes them partners in crime; when the army chases them, Lateef is killed while trying to protect the duo. Bikram and Bala flee to Calcutta and work at a restaurant. After being mistreated and insulted, they learn that pilfering coal is a way to make easy money.