On July 11, 2006 the local train service, known as Mumbai's lifeline, was struck by a series of bomb blasts. Bombay Meri Jaan explores the impact of this devastating incident on the lives of the people of Mumbai.
Rupali Joshi (Soha Ali Khan) is a successful reporter who is getting married in two months. Nikhil Agrawal (R. Madhavan) is an environmentally conscious executive who rides the train to work every day and is expecting his first child. Suresh (Kay Kay Menon) is a struggling computer tech who spends his time loafing at a local cafe and criticizing Muslims. Meanwhile, Sunil Kadam (Vijay Maurya) struggles with the corruption and inefficiency of the Mumbai police force and his boss, Tukaram Patil (Paresh Rawal), who is nearing retirement.
On 11 July Nikhil and Suresh are in the second class compartment of a train when a bomb goes off in the first class compartment. The two survive, but Nikhil is too afraid to take the train again and is diagnosed with acute stress disorder. Suresh becomes obsessed with punishing the city's Muslims and is only stopped from antagonising them by Kadam and Patil on patrol. Kadam and Patil abuse a street vendor named Thomas (Irfan Khan) who begins calling in fake bomb scares at malls to relieve his feelings. After an elderly man suffers a heart attack while the police are evacuating one mall, Thomas feels guilty and decides to stop.