Young actor Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar) arrives in Mumbai to make it as a Bollywood film star with the help of Abhimanyu (Arjun Mathur), an actor friend from his hometown, and their mutual friend Sameer, who works in a studio props department. Vikram befriends Abhi's neighbor, young actress Sona Mishra (Konkona Sen Sharma), with whom he eventually becomes romantically involved. Sona, the mistress of small-time producer Satish Chowdhury (Alyy Khan), who for three years has promised her a leading role in his dream project, meanwhile works in regional films and bit parts.
Sona finds out that Satish has secured financing for the new project and meets him expecting him to cast her as second heroine, but he refuses saying that they need a new face and since she has acted in many regional films and other small roles she is no longer a fresh face. She argues that she can act well but he says that is not a major criteria these days in Bollywood. Sona is crying when Satish's wife enters and asks her why she is crying. Sona answers by fabricating a lie about trouble at home to save both her and Satish's embarrassment. Sona while leaving the both of them gives photos of Vikram to Satish who shows it to his wife and who in turn shows them to Romy(Rishi Kapoor).
Vikram is shortlisted and Neena sees his audition and tries to remember where has she met him before. Vikram is told that the audition was for the lead role in the film and that Neena has seen his audition. He goes back and sees every movie Neena has starred in and when he finally meets her again, he impresses her with his charm and knowledge about her movies. Another guy who was also shortlisted is made overconfident by Vikram. Finally he is selected by Neena, Ranjit (director of the film Sanjay Kapoor) and Romy's wife (Juhi Chawla), while Romy wanted to select the other macho guy, but was convinced by the three that Vikram has a charm that will appeal more to the public.
On set Vikram becomes increasingly crafty and manipulative, while Nikki becomes smitten by him and sneaks into his room one night while her mother is asleep in an attempt to seduce him. Vikram succumbs to her advances and a secret affair starts between the two, the affair becomes stronger when Neena has to leave the set on business for a few days. Meanwhile, Sona arrives at the hotel where the cast is staying to surprise Vikram. She calls a friend to let her know that she has arrived, but her friend instead warns her of a blossoming romance between Vikram and Nikki. She doesn't take heed of her friends warning but discovers the truth when she sees Vikram's unexpectedly cold behavior towards her. Distraught, she leaves the hotel. After coming back Neena instantly recognizes that something is going on between them and makes them understand that it will be mutually beneficial for them not to let the press and public know of their intimacy.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the news of the affair has leaked and a friend of Sona who works at a tabloid gets the assignment to prepare the article, which describes Vikram as a user who has shot to stardom by manipulating Neena and her daughter Nikki. The article also mentions details of when he was struggling to land a role and Sona's part in his life as the forgotten girlfriend. Neena yells at the magazine editor and also tells Nikki to stay away from Vikram. Vikram and Nikki have a fight and Vikram also shows his frustration to Sona as he believes she is the one responsible for the article.
Eventually the film is released and it becomes a hit. Vikram rises to stardom but at the expense of his friends. At a party, he meets his idolShah Rukh Khan, who advises him to not fall into the trappings of stardom and to always be close to the people that stood by him when he was a nobody. He tries to get back with Sona but she points out that he only wants to be with her because he feels guilty. She refuses and walks out of his life. Sona soon gets good roles on television and is interviewed by a reporter for her fan following. The film ends with her revealing to the reporter that she is happy living the life of an independent and somewhat successful actress instead of being upset about not becoming a major movie star.