Tamasha is about the journey of someone who has lost his edge in trying to behave according to socially acceptable conventions of the society. The film is based on the central theme of abrasion and loss of self that happens in an attempt to fit in oneself back.

Set in the city of Uttar Pradesh and based on true events, the plot revolves around Dr Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras who taught Marathi at Aligarh Muslim University. He was sacked from his position of Reader and Chair of Modern Indian Languages, on charges of homosexuality. A sting operation was conducted by a TV channel which showed him in an embrace with a rickshaw puller, at his house inside the campus.