- A female superstar struggles through the trials and tribulations of being a Bollywood actress.
- After his incredible run of women-centric films from Chandni Bar, Page 3, Satta and Corporate to the blockbuster Fashion, Madhur Bhandarkar now turns his lens inwards and presents his most ambitious work yet - Heroine. The film is based on the life and times of a superstar heroine from the dream factory we call 'Bollywood'. The film is a daring, shocking, glamorous, scandalous behind the scenes account of the reality behind the world of glitz and glamour that our film stars inhabit. For a country obsessed with films and film stars, Heroine will take audiences on a voyeuristic journey to see what really goes on behind the closed doors of make up rooms and vanity vans. It will give them a chance to go beyond the gorgeous smiles and politically correct quotes, to see what really happens in the lives of India's sweethearts. The bitching and the politics, the secrets and the lies, the incredible highs of fame and the lonely depths of failure.—Anonymous
- The movie begins with Mahi Arora (Kareena Kapoor), a renowned heroine, being thrown out of a car at night. She hails a taxi to a police station with the intention of lodging a complaint. Before she can do so, her secretary Rashid Bhai (Govind Namdeo) takes her from the station. The movie then goes to flashback for a while, showing the circumstances and her relationship with a well-known actor Aryan (Arjun Rampal). Aryan is in the divorce proceedings with his wife, and dating Mahi. Mahi is completely in love with Aryan, and during one of their intimate moments, takes a video of them just for fun. Aryan is split between his current wife and son, his career, and over-jealous Mahi.
When Mahi comes to know about an intimate scene Aryan is shooting for a movie, she barges on to the set and creates a ruckus, which upsets Aryan. Later Mahi is teased by Aryan's current wife in a party, and she insults her back. While driven back from the party with Aryan, Mahi raises the topic, which results in her being thrown out of the car.
Mahi then goes into depression, putting her career in jeopardy. The entire industry supports Aryan as he is the superstar & the offers dry up for Mahi. One of her friends suggests Mahi to stop playing the victim and to get back again with a bang. Heeding her advice, Mahi decides to rejuvenate her career. She employs a PRO, Pallavi (Divya Dutta) who reinvents Mahi's image and puts her back on the front page of all newspapers and magazines.
She then finds solace in the arms of an upcoming cricketer, Angad Paul (Randeep Hooda). Pallavi advises Mahi to kindle an affair with Angad to gain even more publicity. Mahi is reluctant to use Angad in this way, but Pallavi overrides her feelings. Mahi ensues a fake love affair that begins to blossom for Angad, and this puts Mahi back into the spotlight.
Mahi gets more confident & assertive. She uses her connections effectively to subvert the careers of her rivals & generate opportunities for herself. She is egged in this endeavor by the over ambitious Pallavi, who supports & encourages her every decision. Mahi even uses Angad's connection with an actor's wife to get him to choose Mahi as the co-star for his next film, edging out her fierce rivals.
However, when Angad proposes to Mahi, she blatantly refuses as she feels this is the time to concentrate on their respective careers. This causes Mahi and Angad's relationship to dissolve too. Mahi bets on a art film with an eccentric director. The move pays off in terms of Mahi's acting skills, but backfires when the production house pushes the director to make the film more commercial & he shuts it down. Mahi tries adopting a baby, but her application is refused when she is found to be alcoholic & to be receiving psychiatric treatment. Mahi is shattered & fires Pallavi for trying to make publicity out of her personal misery.
As fate would have it, Mahi meets Aryan at her friend's wedding. Aryan seems to be apologetic to Mahi for what he had done to her. They decide to rekindle their affair. Mahi is happy that Aryan is back in her life. Also, he wants her to do a film with him.
However, the director of the film is reluctant to cast Mahi in the role of the lead heroine as she has lost her appeal. Mahi becomes insane about losing the role to another heroine. She asks Pallavi to leak the sex tape of her and Aryan on the news so that she would get back on the spotlight.
As a result of this controversy, Mahi's upcoming film becomes an instant hit. However, when Rashid Bhai quits his job and a veteran actress in the industry, Shagufta Reza (Helen) whom Mahi admires dearly, dies, Mahi decides to quit acting as well. Shagufta always used to counsel Mahi to maintain her poise & calm & not to get carried away by the glamour industry & to prioritize her personal life over the glitz of Bollywood.
In the concluding scenes, Mahi is shown walking alone in a foreign country and on being asked if she is Mahi Arora, she replies "no". It is implied that Mahi moved on her life.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
More from this title
More to explore
Most anticipated Indian movies and shows
Percentage shows amount of top page views.