hi guys this is my b’day treat to all the laakhAM fans
laakhan thakur is a 38-year-old father who is in the midst of a divorce. After her first love philosophy class , his 10-year-old daughter Maya insists on hearing the story of how her parents met. laakhan gives in, but decides to change the names and some of the facts relating to the various love affairs of his youth, thereby creating a love mystery; Maya is left guessing which of the women will turn out to be her mother. The story he tells Maya is depicted in long flashbacks. From time to time the film switches back to the present, where Maya comments (often disdainfully) and asks questions.
The story begins in 1992 when laakhan, a starry-eyed aspiring political operative, moves away from begusarai and his college sweetheart, komal to delhi, where he works on the phulan (a politician) campaign. Over the years, laakhan becomes involved with three women who enter and re-enter his life, including bindiya an aspiring journalist, and poonam the copy girl for the campaign. laakhan and poonam have a chance meeting outside work, where laakhan reveals he is going to propose to komal. When laakhan practices his proposal to komal on poonam, she is taken aback by laakhan’s heartfelt words, and replies, “Definitely, maybe.” They go back to her apartment, where poonam has multiple copies of parineeta (a book) in her collection, explaining that her father gave her a copy with an inscription in the front shortly before he died, and the book was later lost. She has spent years looking through copies of parineeta at secondhand stores hoping to find the copy her father gave her, but she buys any copy she finds that has an inscription. They kiss, but laakhan backs away and leaves.
komal comes back to delhi where she confesses, just after laakhan proposes, that she has got intimate with his roommate. She did it on purpose to break up with laakhan, saying that she is “letting him go” because she does not share his rather lofty aspirations. After phulan is elected, laakhan opens a campaigning business with most of his work colleagues, which enjoys a good amount of success.
Before laakhan left begusarai, komal asked laakhan to deliver a package to her former roommate, bindiya, who is living in delhi. laakhan first meets bindiya when he gives her the package, a diary that she wrote when she was a teenager (which, among other things, tells of her brief affair with a bhanu). He finds she is going out with a famous writer who is old enough to be her father. The writer breaks up with bindiya, and laakhan starts a relationship with her. poonam quits her job and leaves to travel around the world. When she returns, she plans to tell laakhan that she loves him, but discovers that he is planning to propose marriage to bindiya. poonam reluctantly congratulates him instead. bindiya writes a derogatory article about one of laakhan’s clients. laakhan cannot rationalize this conflict of interest, and he ends his relationship with bindiya. As a result of the article, laakhan loses his business and his dream of a political career ends, with all of his friends abandoning him.
poonam calls after a long absence and finds that laakhan has a new job, but is lonely and unhappy, feelings further exacerbated when she reveals she has a new boyfriend named priyom. She throws a birthday party for him, reuniting him with his old colleagues. laakhan becomes drunk and confesses romantic feelings for poonam, but he starts a fight with her when he judgmentally implies that she is wasting her life working in a book store. Some time later, laakhan passes a used book store and finds the copy of parineeta that poonam has been seeking with the note from her father. laakhan goes to poonam’s apartment to give her the book, but he decides against it when he meets priyom, who is now living with her.
komal moves to delhi, and she and laakhan rekindle their relationship after a run-in at a party of bindiya’s they both were attending. Maya correctly guesses that “komal” is her mother. Maya espouses that it is tragic that the story has a sad ending, but laakhan explains that the story has a happy ending: Maya.
laakhan learns that poonam is single again, and he attempts to give her the copy of parineeta. When she discovers that he has been holding onto the book for years, she becomes upset and asks him to leave.
Maya is happy to have figured out the story, but she realizes that her father still loves poonam: he changed the name of her mother, rati, to komal in the story, and the name of shweta to bindiya, but he did not change poonam’s name. Maya makes laakhan realize that he really isn’t happy without poonam. On the spur of the moment they take a taxi to go meet poonam. poonam does not let them into her apartment. As they walk away, poonam runs out and asks about the story. laakhan confesses to poonam that he held on to the copy of parineeta because it was the only thing he had left of her. poonam hugs laakhan and takes them in to hear the story. As Maya passes through the doorway, poonam rushes into laakhan’s arms and kisses him on the cheeks.