Chulbul Pandey, a young boy, lives with his younger half-brother, Makhanchan "Makkhi" Pandey, stepfather Prajapati Pandey (Vinod Khanna) and mother, Naina Devi (Dimple Kapadia) in Laalgunj, Uttar Pradesh. He has a troubled relationship with his stepfather and Makkhi. After 21 years, Chulbul (Salman Khan) becomes a policeman. Chulbul, who calls himself "Robin Hood" Pandey, lives with his family. Makkhi (Arbaaz Khan) is in love with Nirmala (Mahi Gill), whose father Masterji (Tinu Anand) opposes the relationship. Chulbul falls in love with a girl named Rajjo (Sonakshi Sinha), who he meets during a police encounter.
A corrupt political leader named Chedi Singh (Sonu Sood) meets Chulbul and both quickly become enemies. Makkhi asks his father to arrange his marriage with Nirmala. His father refuses because he needs money to repay the loans he took to make his factory, and he believes that he can acquire money through his son marrying a rich girl. In desperate need of money, Makkhi steals from Chulbul's cupboard and gives the stolen cash to Nirmala's father, hoping that he will permit Makkhi to marry Nirmala. Meanwhile, Chulbul meets Rajjo and proposes marriage, which she rejects, as she has to take care of her father, Haria (Mahesh Manjrekar)—a drunkard.
Chulbul comes home to find his mother dead. He goes to his stepfather to make peace, as he is the only family left. His stepfather refuses and despises him as an outcast. Makkhi invites Chulbul to his marriage with Nirmala. Chulbul convinces Rajjo's father to marry her. Rajjo's father commits suicide, as he knows that his daughter will not marry anyone while he is alive. Chulbul takes Rajjo to Makkhi's exuberant wedding. Realising that Makkhi has stolen his money to finance the wedding, Chulbul marries Rajjo in an impromptu ceremony. Nirmala's father feels disgraced and cancels his daughter's wedding.
Makkhi beats up one of the workers in his factory due to a small mishap. The worker goes to the police station with his mother to file a complaint. Chulbul beats up Makkhi in public to disgrace him. Chedi takes advantage of the situation, and takes Makkhi along with his father to the police station. Makkhi's father resolves the situation by accepting an apology from Chulbul. Chulbul meets Dayal Babu (Anupam Kher), a local political leader, who also dislikes Chedi. With his help, Chulbul adulterates the breweries of Chedi, and wrongly frames him for it.
To take revenge, Chedi burns Makkhi's factory. Makkhi's father suffers a heart attack due to shock and is hospitalised. Makkhi goes to Chedi seek help from him, without knowing that it was Chedi, who burnt his factory. Chedi agrees to finance his father's treatment, if he delivers a crate of mangoes to Dayal Babu's house. Unknown to Makkhi, there is a bomb inside the crate, which explodes after he leaves, killing Dayal Babu. Chedi gives Makkhi a task to kill Chulbul. Makkhi accepts, and confesses it to Chulbul. He reveals to Chulbul that Chedi made him plant the bomb unknowingly. Chulbul forgives him and reconciles with his stepfather. Makkhi then reveals to Chulbul that it was Chedi, who killed their mother. Enraged, Chulbul suffocates Chedi to death. Later, Chulbul gets Makkhi married to Nirmala in the presence of her father, while Rajjo reveals that she is pregnant.
