n the early 18th century, the Maratha Chhatrapati Shahu's (Mahesh Manjrekar) court needs a new Peshwa, the equivalent of a modern-day prime minister. In spite of Shilpat Rao's (Aditya Pancholi) self-nomination, Minister Pant (Milind Soman) chooses to nominate a young Bajirao (Ranveer Singh). To test his spiritual wisdom and knowledge of weaponry, Shilpat challenges Bajirao to split a peacock feather with an arrow. Bajirao succeeds and is given the title of Shrimant Peshwa. Ten years later, his wife Kashibai (Priyanka Chopra) visits her widowed friend Bhanu, whose husband was accused of spying on Bajirao and hence was executed. She bitterly forebodes that Kashi's yearning for Bajirao is imminent.