The film opens before the declaration of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. At a forward operating airbase, Indian Air Force Wing Commander Anand “Andy” Bajwa (Jackie Shroff) & his air force wingmen soon take off to an unknown airbase in Rajasthan. Once there, he is briefed by his superiors that he and his squadron are assigned to the Jaisalmer sector and have to fly Hawker Hunter Ground attack planes to support the Indian Army.
He is soon joined by his brother-in-arms army Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (Sunny Deol) as they meet on a courier flight and speak about the possibility of the opening of the Western front in light of the East Pakistan conflict. Kuldip takes up command of a company of the 23rd Battalion Punjab Regiment (composed of 120 soldiers), arguing about the light defense being assigned to the military post of Longewala. He meets his second-in-command 2nd Lieutenant Dharamveer Singh Bhan (Akshaye Khanna) (who happens to be the son of a 1965 Indo-Pakistani War veteran who was killed during that war) and the Company JCO Naib Subedar Mathura Das (Sudesh Berry).
The company moves to a remote outpost in the deserts of Rajasthan and begins to expand the rudimentary Border Security Force (BSF) post and does the observation of the area up to the international border with Pakistan. They meet the company commander of BSF Assistant Commandant Bhairav Singh Rathod(Sunil Shetty), a deeply patriotic man who expresses his love for the desert.
During a night patrol, Kuldip, Dharamveer, and Bhairav come across a suspicious bunch of locals who turn out to be insurgents, having informed the identities of the company to the Pakistani military. Kuldip and Bhairav manage to kill all but one of the insurgents, but Dharamveer hesitates to shoot the surviving insurgent as he never killed anyone in combat. Kuldip severely derides him and shoots the insurgent himself, prompting Dharamveer to vomit. A badly shaken Dharamvir is comforted by Bhairav, and the two reminisce about their personal lives. Dharamveer recounts how he met his fiancée Kamla (Pooja Bhatt), a lively girl from his native village whom he had fallen for, and how he got his mobilization orders on the day of his engagement to Kamla. Bhairav recounts his wedding night, his first night with his bride Phool Kanwar (Sharbani Mukherjee), when he was called back to post and how he bids a tearful goodbye.