Karthik (Farhan Akhtar) is a timid, underconfident young man working a dead-end job at a construction firm. He’s bullied by his boss, ignored by colleagues, and secretly in love with his childhood friend Shonali (Deepika Padukone), who treats him more like a sympathetic project than a romantic prospect. Haunted by a traumatic childhood memory of his older brother’s death, Karthik lives alone, drowning in self-pity and loneliness.
In the climactic confrontation, Karthik faces himself. He stops running from the voice and instead accepts it as a part of who he is — not as a master, but as an integrated self. He learns to be confident without being controlled.
Desperate, Karthik traces the calls and discovers they’re coming from his own office landline — the phone he alone uses. The horrifying truth dawns: the voice is not a ghost or a prank. It’s a split personality — a manifestation of his own repressed anger, trauma, and intelligence. The “other Karthik” was born from the pain of his brother’s death and the years of being a doormat.
