In 13th-century Afghanistan, Jalaluddin Khilji of the Khilji dynasty plans to take over the throne of Delhi. His nephew Alauddin Khilji at the same time brings him a whole ostrich though he was asked only to bring ostrich feather. In return, he ask for Jalaluddin's daughter Mehrunisa's hand in marriage. Their wedding is organised, but on the night of the event, Alauddin engages in adultery with another woman. A courtier witnesses the act and is killed by Alauddin. Mehrunisa is informed of this during the wedding, leaving her horrified.

Meanwhile, the Sinhala (modern-day Sri Lanka) princess Padmavati mistaking the Rajput ruler Maharawal Ratan Singh for a deer, accidentally wounds him while hunting in a forest. She takes him along with her and treats him, upon which he divulges his identity, who has traveled to Sinhala to acquire rare pearls for his first wife Nagmati. Over a course of events, the two fall in love. Ratan Singh asks for Padmavati's hand in marriage, she agrees and with permission from her father, they get married.

Jalaluddin takes over the throne of Delhi and sends Alauddin to repel a Mongol invasion. Alauddin is successful in doing so, but undertakes an unsanctioned raid on Devagiri. He captures the princess there after successfully assassinating her husband and makes her his concubine. Jalaluddin's wife and nephew warns him against Alauddin's ambition to take over the throne. He journeys to Kara to meet Alauddin and gifts him the slave Malik Kafur. Alauddin has Jalaluddin and his ministers assassinated and declares himself the new Sultan.

Padmavati journeys to Mewar with Ratan Singh and is blessed by his royal priest, Raghav Chetan. Chetan is caught watching Ratan Singh and Padmavati sharing an intimate moment and is banished from the kingdom. He travels to Delhi and informs Alauddin of Padmavati's beauty. Alauddin, who is fixated with having anything that is exceptional, invites the Rajputs to Delhi. His invitation is rejected. Enraged, he lays siege to Ratan Singh's capital Chittor. After waiting for six months and yet unsuccessful in his attempts to conquer the kingdom, Alauddin feigns peace on account of Holi and is allowed to enter Chittor where he meets Ratan Singh. He asks to see Padmavati. The Rajputs, knowing his intentions, threaten him. Ratan Singh grants Alauddin's request to see Padmavati, but does so only for a moment while preventing Alauddin from seeing her face.

Ratan Singh is taken prisoner by Alauddin, who demands to see Padmavati. Upon being insisted by Queen Nagmati, Padmavati agrees. She however puts forth some conditions including that she will first meet her husband when she arrives as well as the death of Chetan, to which Alauddin agrees. She then travels to Delhi to meet Khilji. Meanwhile, Alaluddin's nephew attempts to assassinate him. Alauddin is wounded but survives and later kills him.

While on the Sultanante's frontiers, the Rajputs plan to ambush the Khilji soldiers in the morning which is the time for nam?z. Padmavati, along with Chittor's generals, Gora and Badal, free Ratan Singh, and escapes with Mehrunisa's help. Ratan confronts Alauddin who warns him to kill him now or he will regret it, but Ratan denies stating Rajputs don't attack the wounded. The Khilji soldiers are alerted, but are ambushed by the Rajputs disguised as women. The Rajput attack is repulsed, with the ambushing Rajputs killed. In Chittor, Padmavati receives praise for saving Ratan Singh.

Alauddin imprisons Mehrunisa for helping the Rajputs and marches to Chittor. He and Ratan Singh engage in a single duel; Alauddin is nearly defeated by Ratan Singh, but Singh is shot by Kafur from behind with arrows, and berates Alauddin for fighting dishonourably before dying. The Khilji army succeeds in defeating the Rajputs and capturing Chittor, but are unable to capture the Rajput women who perform jauhar with Padmavati.

• Deepika Padukone as Padmavati – a 13th-14th century legendary Rajput queen, who was, according to Padmavat, the wife of Rajput king Ratan Singh (also known as Ratan Sen), the ruler of Mewar. The news of Padmavati's beauty reached Sultan Alauddin Khilji, who besieged Singh's capital, Chittor, motivated by his desire to capture the queen.
• Shahid Kapoor as Ratan Singh – the last Rajput ruler of the Guhila dynasty that ruled the kingdom of Mewar. He was defeated by Alauddin Khilji's forces during the siege of Chittor.
• Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khalji – the second and most powerful ruler of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate. He ascended the throne by murdering his paternal uncle and father-in-law, Sultan Jalal-ud-din Khalji. According to Padmavat, Khilji laid siege to Chittor motivated by his desire to capture Ratan Singh's beautiful wife, Padmavati.
• Aditi Rao Hydari as Mehrunisa– first wife of Alauddin Khilji and Queen of the Delhi Sultanate.
• Jim Sarbh as Malik Kafur– a prominent eunuch slave-general of Alauddin Khilji.
• Raza Murad as Jalal-ud-din Khalji – the founder and first Sultan of the Khilji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate. He was deposed by his nephew and son-in-law Alauddin, who murdered his uncle to usurp the throne.
• Anupriya Goenka as Nagmati – first wife and chief queen of Ratan Singh according to Padmavat. Nagmati and her husband's second wife, Padmavati, performed jauhar together after Alauddin Khilji attacked Chittor.
• Ujjwal Chopra as Gora Singh

Development

An adaptation of Malik Muhammad Jayasi's epic Padmavat (1540), Sanjay Leela Bhansali had been planning a film adaptation for a decade. He first worked on a television adaptation as an assistant editor for Shyam Benegal's television series Bharat Ek Khoj (1988), based on Jawaharlal Nehru's The Discovery of India (1946), featuring an episode about Padmavat starring Om Puri as Alauddin Khilji. In 2008, Bhansali produced an opera version in Paris, inspiring him to begin work on a film version. Padmaavat also took inspiration from other earlier adaptations of the epic, including Bengali literary adaptations from Kshirode Prasad Vidyavinode in 1906 and Abanindranath Tagore in 1909, the Tamil film Chittoor Rani Padmini (1963), and the Hindi film Maharani Padmini (1964).

Pre-production on the film began in July 2016. That same month, playback singer Shreya Ghoshal tweeted about performing a song composed by Bhansali for the film. Many media outlets speculated that Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, who played the leads in Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani (2015), were finalised to play Alauddin Khilji and Rani Padmavati in the film. In October 2016, it was announced that Bhansali would team up with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures to produce the film with Singh and Padukone along with Shahid Kapoor as Rawal Ratan Singh, playing the lead roles.

Casting