Plot

Kishorilal wants an Indian bride for his westernised son. He gets him engaged to Ganga, his friend's daughter, and brings her to USA. But she shares a deeper bond with Arjun, Kishorilal's foster son.

This film takes a serious look at the lives of Westernized Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in North America (Whereas Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was about NRIs with Indian hearts, Pardes is about Westernized NRIs.) and hence the meaning of the title - "foreign land". Kishorilal is a successful businessman settled in America but still emotionally attached to his motherland - India. So the pardesi comes to India with his "American" son Rajiv to find a suitable '"Indian" girl for him. Kishorilal hopes his soon-to-be daughter in law will instill some Indian values in his extremely westernized son. He finds his daughter in law in Kusum Ganga (a pet Subhash Ghai name just as Chandni was Yash Chopra's favorite for a long time) in the house of his childhood friend Suraj Dev. Mahima Chaudhary makes her debut as Ganga. To finalize the marriage he sends his son along with his foster son Arjun to India. Arjun plays Cupid and returns to America with Kusum and Rajiv. Arjun comes into the movie to get the American-boy to accept Indian values, and support the Indian-girl to accept American vices. The reverse does not fit into this movie. Arjun is portrayed as an Indian at heart and the hero of the film! All is hunky-dory till the true Bharatiya Nari finds out that her future husband is not a teetotaler. So, the heartbroken Kusum returns to India. Don't conclude that it is the end of the Bollywood fairy tale. It is just the beginning as Arjun falls in love with his would-have-been bhabhi while playing Cupid and leads to a love triangle.—Aman Bakhsh

Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan) is the foster son of Kishorilal (Amrish Puri), a wealthy NRI who harbors extreme affection for his home country, India. Kishorilal comes to India every year. On a trip to meet his friend Suraj Dev (Alok Nath) in India, Kishorilal comes in contact with his friend's daughter, Ganga (Mahima Chaudhry). Suraj lives with his wife Narmada (Padmavati Rao) and his mother (Dina Pathak). Ganga has cousins Nitin (Akash Singh), Daksha (Prachi Save), Sonali (Samta Sagar) and Daboo (Ajay Nagrath). Kulwanti (Himani Shivpuri) is Suraj's sister. Kishorilal is impressed by her culture and values and decides to arrange her marriage with his biological son, Rajiv (Apurva Agnihotri). Amirchand (Deepak Qazir) is also an NRI, and Suraj's cousin, who wanted Ganga to be married to his son Manu (Anand Balraj). Suraj doesn't like Manu as he is an alcoholic.

Kishorilal goes back to the US and leaves a set of photos but doesn't clarify which photo belongs to Rajiv. Kishorilal lives with his mother Krishna (Benu Kalsi), 2 brothers (Sandy & 1 more), and a sister-in-law Neeta (Madhuri Bhatia) (who is Sandy's wife) and a sister Padma (Smita Jaykar). Ganga is not able to distinguish between Arjun and Rajiv, but puts a finger on Rajiv's photo as her preferable groom.

Back in the US, Kishorilal's family is not convinced that Rajiv will accept a girl like Ganga as his life partner, as he is born and brought up in the US. Kishori believes Arjun will fix the issue for him. Arjun was 10 years old when his parents died. He came to the US with Kishori and worked in a garage, and then drove a taxi, before Kishori made him a manager of his garage and also gave him a studio to work on his music. Arjun considers Kishori to be next to God.

Arjun is sent to India and is tasked to prepare Ganga's family to receive Rajiv when he arrives. Arjun sets about "westernizing" the household but is resisted by Ganga and her siblings. Arjun wants all farm animals and servants to be kept out of the house. Ganga says that Indians do not break old relations to make new ones. Their clash brings them together, and Arjun and Ganga become friends. Rajiv visits the village in a 2 day's time and is subjected to alien Indian customs and traditions. Arjun plays a big role to make sure that Ganga is presented to Rajiv as a semi-modern woman. With help from Arjun, he soon begins to understand Indian culture and becomes attracted to Ganga. Arjun also convinces Ganga's family to let Rajiv meet her in isolation, but in presence of her cousins. Ganga trusts Arjun and wants to know if Rajiv is the right guy for her. Arjun is hesitant but convinces Ganga that Rajiv is the right match for her.

Rajiv and Ganga agree to their arranged marriage and fly off together to the US after being engaged in India. Rajiv wants Ganga to see US before they get married, as she is the one who has to adjust to the new life. Kulwanti goes with Ganga to be her chaperon for the trip. Amirchand objects to the engagement. Rajiv has to beat Manu in a game of Kabaddi to earn his right to marry Ganga. The match goes badly, and Kishori's team is down by a lot, and only a last-minute play by Arjun wins the points that beats Amirchand's team.

Ganga lives with the Kishorilal household while preparations are made for a grand wedding. During this time, she faces hostilities from Kishorilal's family, who have long left India and its values behind, having fully embraced American culture. Ganga is hurt after hearing the insulting comments about her and her traditions. Ganga also realizes that Arjun's status in the family is of a servant and not of Rajiv's younger brother. Sharafat Ali (Pawan Malhotra) is Arjun's friend and part of his band. Ganga believes Rajiv is different from his family, but is soon exposed to his indulgent lifestyle, his brutish behavior, and secrets of his past relationships like with Kelly. Having grown up in a conservative family in India, she reacts negatively to this new information and lashes out at Arjun, accusing him of painting a false picture of Rajiv before their engagement.

Arjun's continued friendship with Ganga is noticed by Kishorilal's family especially Rajiv's aunt Neeta who has never shown inclination towards Rajiv and Ganga's marriage, believing she is not modern and independent like herself and Rajiv. She manipulates Kishorilal's mind making him to relocate Arjun within the country so he cannot interfere in Rajiv's relationship.

On a trip to Las Vegas, Rajiv and Ganga end up fighting in their hotel room over the former's insistence to have sex before marriage, which goes against Indian culture. Rajiv goes as far as to say insulting things about India, causing Ganga to get infuriated and slap him and subsequently cancel her relationship with him by discarding her ring. Rajiv ends up attempting a sexual assault on Ganga, who fights him off and escapes. Arjun finds her in a distressed state at a train station and flies her back to the safety of her family in India.

Back in the village, Ganga's family is falsely led to believe that Arjun and Ganga have eloped. Rajiv shows up in the country and hires goons to take revenge on Arjun. Arjun is left a bloody mess but fights back for Ganga's sake. His fistfight with Rajiv turns violent, but they are interrupted by Kishorilal. Kishorilal demands an explanation from Arjun for his actions, who confesses that he has fallen in love with Ganga but acted only with the intent to protect her and not elope with her. Ganga, meanwhile, has also realized her love for Arjun. She exposes Rajiv to Kishorilal and to her own family for his actions in Vegas. Kishorilal is shocked and disgusted with what he is seeing. He then announces that Ganga will marry Arjun, instead of Rajiv. Rajiv is shocked and tells Kishorilal that he is his son. However, Kishorilal slaps Rajiv and orders him to go back to the US. Ganga and Arjun return to the US and get married. They live out a happy married life together.