Mulk revolves around a Muslim joint family based in a Hindu-dominated locality of Varanasi. The patriarch, Murad Ali Mohammed (Rishi Kapoor), is a reputed lawyer and commands respect of his neighbours who cut across religions and professions. Life takes an ugly turn when his nephew Shahid (Prateik Babbar) is declared a terrorist and killed in an encounter by Anti-Terrorist Squad official Danish Javed (Rajat Kapoor). Shahid's father and Murad's younger brother Bilal (Manoj Pahwa) is arrested on charges of being an accomplice in his son's unlawful activities. Murad represents his brother in the court before he is also dragged into the case as an accused by the prosecution lawyer (Ashutosh Rana). Murad's Hindu daughter-in-law Aarti Mohammed (Taapsee Pannu) then takes charge of the case and vows to get justice for her family.
While the first half is a family drama, the second is populated by intense courtroom scenes. In terms of battling perception, a parallel can be drawn between Mulk and Anirudha Roy Choudhary's 2016 legal drama Pink. What Pink was for feminism, Mulk is for terrorism. Pink brought to the fore the clear, yet widely misunderstood, nuances of consent in sexual relationships. "No means no," Amitabh Bachchan dramatically spelt out in the climax of the Shoojit Sircar production. In Mulk, Bachchan's Pink client Taapsee takes on the advocate gown and vows to prove, "Terrorism is a criminal activity, not a religious one."