Tahaan

After salvaging money using various means, Tahaan reaches the moneylender to reclaim Birbal. He is told that old Subhan Darr (Anupam Kher) bought the donkey and went across the mountains in which Tahaans father went missing. Gathering courage, Tahaan goes in search of the old man. He finds him and he follows Subhan and his assistant Zafar (Rahul Bose) and their mule train, leading Birbal despite their protests. Although Subhan promises to return Birbal to Tahaan if he can win a race against the incompetent Zafar, when he wins Subhan refuses to give him Birbal.

Instead, Subhan gives the donkey to his eight-year-old nephew. Zafar tries to give Tahaan his sunglasses as a replacement for the donkey, but Tahaan will not accept the gift.On his way back home, Tahaan encounters Idrees, a teenager who discourages him, saying that his efforts will not be sufficient to get Birbal back. Instead he suggests to do him a favour. Tahaan is asked to take a package across the mountains in his onward journey.

Upon seeing his eagerness, Idrees hands him over a grenade and says that when the time is right, he will be told what needs to be done. At a checkpoint the package and grenade are not discovered due to the fact that the soldiers know and trust Subhan Darr. Tahaan is about to commit a terrorist act with the grenade and has already removed the pin, when he changes his mind and throws it safely in a river. He then sees his father emerge from the building he almost blew up. Subhans nephew learns that Tahaan is fond of Birbal, and at his request Subhan gives the donkey back to Tahaan.

The film opened to generally positive reviews. Ziya Us Salam of The Hindu hailed the film as a visual poem and Responsible cinema, brilliant cinema. Raja Sen of Rediff gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a must-watch. Rajiv Masand of CNN-IBN called it a film of great virtue and gave 3 out of 5 stars. Baradwaj Rangan called it a film of first-rate performances.