Years ago, the agent nicknamed “Pathaan” (Shah Rukh Khan) almost lost his life in service to the country.While recuperating from his injuries, he conceptualized the formation of JOCR, headed by Major Nandini (Dimple Kapadia), a shadow division within India’s Research and Analysis Wing, composed of tough, passionate, and motivated soldiers who would otherwise have been disallowed from service due to injuries sustained in the line of duty. Pathaan and the other JOCR team get intel of an impending attack by a mysterious mercenary group Outfit X. Pathaan comes face to face with the head of Outfit X, an enigmatic and ruthless mercenary Jim (John Abraham), who has a history of his own.Jim kills key members of Pathaan’s team in the attack, compelling Pathaan to swear revenge.He finds that Jim heads Outfit X, a private team of elite mercenaries who were ex-agents of the top spy agencies across the world and are now “Guns for hire”.The latest job that Jim has taken is the biggest one yet - a major attack to be orchestrated against India, Codenamed Raktabeej, after a legendary asura (demon) from Indian mythology who was impossible to kill, because every drop of his blood led to the creation of more and more demons!With the doomsday clock ticking away, Pathaan must urgently find out exactly what Operation Raktabeej is, when it is to take place, and how on earth to stop it.His only ally is an agent who can’t be trusted, Rubai! (Deepika Padukone).The chase to stop Jim and Operation Raktabeej will have Pathaan fighting countless unexpected betrayals and dealing with the death and destruction of everything and everyone he loves. Can Pathaan fight an anarchic killer who is more than his match, one who knows exactly how Pathaan thinks and plans every move ensuring he is three steps ahead? How do you fight a villain who, much like Raktabeej, gets stronger with every attack you mount on him? All that lies between India and destruction is one man. The agent nicknamed “Pathaan”.