The film starts with Vasudev Shastri, a genius RAW agent, being labelled as incompetent because he had failed in an important mission and got himself too injured to work again. Later, when he sits by a park depressed, Nandini, the love of his life, consoles him. The film then goes into a flashback where Vasudev Shastri who is a topper yet charming man who comes to IIT where the second ranker, Nandini Chauhan, out of jealousy, decides to make his life hell. She constantly detests him but Vasu outsmarts her every time. Besides being the friendly "genius" around campus, he secretly does a part-time job with RAW where his hacking talents are occupied. The day before the final exam in IIT, Nandini reluctantly visits Vasu to get help regarding a theorem. There, Vasu admits to Nandini that he had been long in love with her. Hearing this, Nandini immediately hatches a cunning plan and gives Vasu sleeping pills so that he is unable to attend the exam next day. However, Vasu outsmarts her this time as well and reaches the exam hall before her. Vasu doesn't at all seem angry with her and instead helps her with an unexpected glitch and walks away smiling after completing his paper. On the day of the results, Nandini comes to know that Vasu had intentionally submitted a blank paper just to let her top. Seeing his dedication towards love, Nandini falls in love with him but doesn't reveal it and flies off to US for her dream job. On the other hand, Senior members of RAW, impressed by Vasu's intelligence, try to convince him to join RAW. After learning that his parents were killed in communal riots planned by ISI of Pakistan, Vasu finally decides to join RAW to take revenge against ISI. The film returns to the present where Vasu, who is labelled incompetent by RAW, uses a walking stick and suffers from acute tinnitus and several injuries since his failed mission. Nandini had taken a break from her job to return to India and take care of Vasu. She takes Vasu to her house in Puducherry, where her mother is pleasantly surprised to see Nandini make huge sacrifices for Vasu's welfare. Vasu and Nandini spend some romantic moments but their happiness is short lived as Vasu starts having hallucinations about his failed mission. A confused Nandini tries to take Vasu to USA for treatment. Vasu refuses and narrates the tragic story of his failed mission to Nandini, after which he leaves to track MRS, the mastermind of ISI in India and the prime target of his failed mission. Soon after, it is shown that all the hallucinations were just a drama set up by Vasu to track his enemies. He one by one kills everyone who had helped MRS. On the other hand, MRS senses Vasudev's return and plans to kill him in a masquerade party. In the masquerade party, Vasu saves himself but gets injured once again. Seeing Vasu's miserable condition, Nandini breaks down. MRS, who was secretly observing them, takes advantage of this and kidnaps Nandini. Soon after, the senior members of RAW acknowledge his competence. With the help of RAW, Vasu finds Nandini, saves Mathura from a huge blast and finally kills MRS by drowning him in the river. All members of RAW praise him. The film ends with him sharing a big hug with Nandini.
The film received generally poor reviews. Reviews were particularly critical of the confusing narrative and the standard of acting. Bollywood Hungama gave it 1/5 stars saying "On the whole, GENIUS is an extremely poor and senseless fare." Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India was equally critical of the film giving it 2/5 stars. The Indian Express gave it a "nil" rating describing it as feeling redundant.
