The film is based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth and with Mumbai underworld as its backdrop. Maqbool (Irrfan Khan) is the right-hand man of Jahangir Khan (alias Abba Ji) (Pankaj Kapoor), a powerful underworld don. Maqbool is grateful and feels a close connection and personal indebtedness to Abba Ji. The movie gains pace with two corrupt police-men (played by Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah) predicting that Maqbool would soon take over the reins of the Mumbai Underworld from Abba Ji. These two thus play a role akin to the three witches in the original play.
The film begins with a group of news reporters watching, and gossiping, at an elaborate wedding reception for Yoshiko Iwabuchi (Kyoko Kagawa), the daughter of Vice President Iwabuchi (Masayuki Mori, the villain character) of the Unexploited Land Development Corporation, a construction company, and Koichi Nishi, the president's secretary (a bespectacled Toshiro Mifune). The police interrupt the wedding when corporate assistant officer Wada, who is the wedding reception's master of ceremony, is arrested on charges of bribery in a kickback scheme. The reporters comment this incident is similar to an earlier scandal involving Iwabuchi, administrative officer Moriyama, and contract officer Shirai. That earlier case was hushed up after the apparent suicide of Assistant Chief Furuya, by jumping off the corporate office building, creating a dead end in the investigation before any of the company's higher-ups could be implicated.
The Lion in Winter is set during Christmas 1183, at King Henry II's château and primary residence in Chinon, Anjou, within the Angevin Empire of medieval France. Henry wants his youngest son, the future King John, to inherit his throne, while his estranged and imprisoned wife, Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, favours their oldest surviving son, the future King Richard the Lionheart. Meanwhile, King Philip II of France, the son and successor of Louis VII of France, Eleanor's ex-husband, has given his half-sister Alais, who is currently Henry's mistress, to the future heir, and demands either a wedding or the return of her dowry.
In 1191, Richard the Lionheart (Ian Hunter), the King of England, is taken captive by Leopold V, Duke of Austria while returning from the Third Crusade. Richard’s treacherous brother Prince John (Claude Rains) usurps the throne and proceeds to oppress the Saxons, raising taxes supposedly to pay Richard's ransom, but in reality to secure his own position.
By 1579, Elizabeth I has reigned for about 20 years and has refused to marry. Her chief advisor Lord Burghley and her spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham plan to have her marry the Duke of Anjou, brother of Henry III of France, to make an alliance against Spain. Elizabeth's favourite the Earl of Leicester strongly opposes the match because of his own longstanding affections for her. The Duke of Anjou eventually comes to court Elizabeth, but despite him being to her liking, she is later convinced by Burghley not to marry him because of negative popular opinion towards the match.
The film opens in 1950, five years after the capture of Puyi by the Red Army when the Soviet Union entered the Pacific War in 1945 and his having been kept in their custody. In the recently established People's Republic of China Puyi arrives as a political prisoner and war criminal at the Fushun Prison. Soon after his arrival, Puyi attempts suicide, which only renders him unconscious.
The story is set in ancient Japan, where a young boy named Kubo cares for his mother in a village. A spirit from the past turns Kubo's life upside down by re-igniting an age-old vendetta. This causes all sorts of havoc as gods and monsters chase Kubo who, in order to survive, must locate a magical suit of armor once worn by his late father, a legendary Samurai warrior.
Cardinal Wolsey, the Lord Chancellor of England, summons Sir Thomas More to Hampton Court. King Henry VIII of England wishes to divorce his wife and marry Anne Boleyn. Saying that England needs a male heir to prevent another civil war, Wolsey chastises More for being the only member of the Privy Council to argue against him. When More states that the Pope will never grant a divorce, he is appalled by Wolsey's suggestion that they apply "pressure" on Church lands to force the issue. To Wolsey's fury, More responds, "No, Your Grace. I am not going to help you.
Part I begins with Ivan's coronation as Tsar of all the Russias, amid grumbling from the boyars. Ivan makes a speech proclaiming his intent to unite and protect Russia against the foreign armies outside her borders and the enemies within - a reference to the boyars, who are already seen as discontented with his coronation. Shortly after, the scene changes to Ivan's wedding celebration in which he marries Anastasia Romanovna. This causes him to lose the friendship of his two best friends, Prince Andrei Kurbsky and Fyodor Kolychev. The latter receives Ivan's permission to retire to a monastery, while Kurbsky attempts to resume his romance with the Tsarina, who repels his advances.
A person comes to meet with Gauri Shankar Roy (Uttam Kumar) living in Kolkata. He introduces himself as a 'fauji Sardar' of Jhind, Jhind being a small kingdom in Madhya Pradesh. He says that the to-be king of Jhind, Shankar Singh, is found missing from the kingdom right before his coronation and this is apparently a conspiracy by his own brother Udit Singh, who wants the kingdom for himself. Earlier too there were two occasions when abhishek was arranged but both the times the king was found missing. Udit is a cruel hearted man, unfit to be a good king. Shankar Singh has his vices too but is a kind hearted person who would care for his citizens and is thus worthy to be the king. Now, coincidentally, Gauri has exactly the same appearance as Shankar Singh(also played by Uttam Kumar). This being the last hope, Sardar requests him to enact the role of the King for the abhishek until he finds the real king. Gauri agrees.The two set off for Jhind.