When Jailer Vishwa Pratap Singh (Dilip Kumar) slaps captured terrorist Dr. Michael Dang (Anupam Kher), he does not realize he has re-shaped his life forever. Soon after his two sons, (Shashi Kiran, Satish Kaul), and daughter-in-law (Beena) are mercilessly killed by Dang's army of men who set Dang free from prison. Vishwa Pratap Singh's only surviving youngest son (Jugal Hansraj) is crippled and his wife, Rukmani (Nutan) loses her vocal cords from the shock of losing her two sons. Now calling himself Dada Thakur, he is determined to get revenge on Dang and recruits three notorious prisoners on death-row, Baiju Thakur (Jackie Shroff), Johnny/Gyneshwar (Anil Kapoor), and a former terrorist Khairuddin Chishti (Naseeruddin Shah) to assist him in his private war against Dang. However, Dada Thakur does not realize that his army of three have only agreed to join him, so that they could enjoy freedom.