Annu (Ali Fazal) is an aspiring filmmaker and the movie starts with him entertaining the audience in a dark theatre mimicking the dialogues of Mughal-e-Azam. Set in Allahabad, Annu also does some illegal things like leaking the question papers for the college students. Because of this, he meets Maithli who's a daughter of a renowned priest played by Ashutosh Rana.

Milan Talkies is a movie that unabashedly professes its love for commercial cinema. The film's protagonist, Anu, dreams of being a film director and along with his friends he hangs out at a local theatre named Milan Talkies. The boys dream big as they hustle their way into making low-budget potboilers and when they run out of money, they swindle students, helping them cheat in examinations.

A vibrant evocation of small-town Uttar Pradesh, Tigmanshu Dhulia's Milan Talkies is a lively, off-kilter love letter to mainstream Mumbai movies and the city of Allahabad. Even when the film isn't at its best and seems to be meandering somewhat, the onscreen performances - the lead actors Ali Fazal and Bollywood newbie Shraddha Srinath contribute winning star turns - and the racy verbal jousts between its attention-holding characters keep it on the boil.