THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING

In 1885 British India, journalist Rudyard Kipling is approached by a ragged derelict who reveals himself to be Peachy Carnehan, an old acquaintance. Carnehan reveals what happened to him and his comrade-in-arms, Danny Dravot, both ex-sergeants of the British Army.

Three years earlier, Dravot and Carnehan had met Kipling. After stealing his pocket-watch, Carnehan found a masonic tag on the chain and, realising he had robbed a fellow Freemason, felt he had to return it. Carnehan and Dravot were working on a plot to blackmail a local raja, which Kipling foiled by getting the British district commissioner to intervene. Carnehan later blackmails the commissioner to avoid deportation.

Frustrated at the lack of opportunities for lucrative criminal mischief, in an India becoming more civilised, and with few prospects in the United Kingdom, the two visit Kipling with a plan. Forsaking India, they will head with twenty rifles and ammunition to Kafiristan, a country virtually unknown to Europeans since its conquest by Alexander the Great. There they will offer their services to a ruler and help him conquer his neighbours, but proceed to overthrow him and loot the country. Kipling, after first trying to dissuade them, gives Dravot his masonic tag as a token of brotherhood.

After signing a contract pledging mutual loyalty and forswearing women and drink, Carnehan and Dravot set off on an overland journey north beyond the Khyber Pass. Over the following weeks, they travel through Afghanistan, fighting off bandits, blizzards and avalanches. They chance upon Gurkha soldier Billy Fish, the sole survivor of a years-past British expedition. Speaking English and the local language, Billy smooths their way as they begin their rise, first offering their services to the chief of a much-raided village. When a force has been trained in modern weapons and tactics, they lead it out against some hated neighbours. During the battle, an arrow pierces Dravot's jacket but he is unharmed.

Both sides take Dravot to be a god, though in fact the arrowhead was stopped by his bandolier. Victory follows victory, with the defeated adding to the ranks of the swelling army. With their enemies vanquished, nobody is left to stand in their way, as they are summoned to the holy city of Sikandergul by the local high priest. The priest sets up a re-enactment of the arrow incident, to determine whether Dravot is a man or a god by seeing whether or not he bleeds. When his shirt is torn open, they are amazed to see the masonic tag around his neck. It contains the sacred symbol left by Sikander, their name for Alexander the Great, who had promised to send a son to rule over them.

Hailing Dravot as king as well as god, the locals show him the royal treasury, which is full of gold and jewels that are now all his. Carnehan suggests that they leave with as much loot as they can carry. Dravot, however, is beginning to enjoy the adulation of the locals, settling their disputes and issuing laws, and even dreams of visiting Queen Victoria as an equal. He is also smitten with the beautiful young Roxanne and cancels his pact with Carnehan to avoid women, saying he will marry her to leave the people an heir. When Roxanne is reluctantly brought to him, he tries to kiss her, but she, terrified that the touch of a god means death to a mortal, bites his cheek. Seeing him bleed, the people realise he is only human and try to grab the British impostors.

Outnumbered in the ensuing battle, Dravot is captured and is made to walk onto a rope bridge, where he sings the hymn "The Son of God Goes Forth to War." When the ropes are cut, he falls to his death. Carnehan is crucified between two pine trees but freed upon being found still alive the next morning. Crippled in body and unhinged in mind from his ordeal, he returns to India as a beggar. Finishing his story, he leaves Kipling's office after putting a bundle on the desk. Kipling opens it and finds Dravot's skull, still wearing a golden crown.

Dravot and Carnehan's rule in Kafiristan ends in tragedy after their desire for a native girl leads to their downfall and a grim fate.

The film’s ending underscores the perils of hubris and cultural arrogance, as the protagonists’ ambitions unravel when they overstep local boundaries. Their pursuit of power and treasure ultimately costs them everything, serving as a cautionary tale about the limits of imperial ambition and the consequences of exploiting foreign lands and peoples.