The film stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani and Tabu.

An adaptation of the South Korean film, Ode to My Father (2014), it traces India's post-independence history from the perspective of a common man, and follows his life from the age of 8 to 70.

He moves to the imported goods store of Gautam's sister Jamuna and her husband Keemat Rai Kapoor, and meets a roadside circus worker, Radha.

Bharat joins many Indian migrants in Saudi Arabia, following an oil discovery, to earn money for his sister Mehek's marriage.

During the 1983 Cricket World Cup, Keemat decides to sell the store due to a need of money and asks Bharat to buy it.

Bharat initially refuses as he hopes to keep the promise he made to Gautam, still believing he would one day come back, however he reluctantly agrees.

After the economic liberalisation in India, Kumud becomes the creative director of the newly formed Zee TV and runs a program to unite the relatives of people who were separated during the partition.

Bharat reconnects with Meher, a London citizen adopted by a British family during the partition, and realises that she is Gudia, who returns to India.

[11][12] Bharat began principal photography in mid-April 2018,[13][14] and was shot in Abu Dhabi, Spain, Malta, Punjab, Delhi and elsewhere.

[17] Nikhil Namit, CEO of Reel Life Productions, said that Priyanka quit due to her engagement to Nick Jonas.

[22] The songs featured in the film were composed by Vishal–Shekhar, lyrics written by Irshad Kamil, with music arranger & producer Meghdeep Bose.

[31] Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave the film three and a half stars out of five, calling it "an exhausting, scattered watch despite the entertainment, humour and nobility it propagates".

[32] Priyanka Sinha Jha of News18, praising Khan for his performance rates the film with three stars out of five, and feels that the script is a bit lengthy and required 'sharper' editing.

[35] Ananya Bhattacharya writing for India Today praised acting of Kaif and Khan but feels that the main attraction is Sunil Grover.

Rating it with two stars out of five, Vetticad concludes, "Far from being a Forrest Gump with Salman Khan, Bharat is mostly a plodding trek through post-1947 to contemporary India.

[39] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave two and a half stars out of five and opines, "The good thing about the film, despite its eye-roll moments, is its attempt to create an ‘ordinary’ man without any particular skills.".