She quickly gets addicted to the game. The next day, she returns to the casino, but ends up losing not only the money she won the previous day, but a large chunk of her savings also. Praful then returns to Atlanta after a week, only to find out that her bank application to the bank has been rejected as her credit rating is very low. Praful seeks her father's help but he insists that she should meet a young man named Sameer (Sohum Shah) who has been selected as her suitor.
After meeting with the suitor, she has mixed feelings about marriage and agrees to get engaged. However, her addiction to gambling takes a toll on her and Praful gives her last shot to gambling and goes back to Vegas. Unfortunately, she ultimately loses all her savings so a private money lender spots Praful (who is now drunk) in the casino and offers her money. The drunk Praful – not in her right senses- takes $32,000 from the money lender and in exchange gives him her driving license. Praful loses all that borrowed money (along with her hard-earned savings) and has to return penniless to her home. Praful tries to explain to her father her bad situation and needing his financial help, but in fear of retaliation and hostility she is reluctant.
Her parents want her to begin her wedding preparations and plans with Sameer, who by now gets impressed by her personality. At a relative's wedding Praful and Sameer meet again and dance, and get to know each other. However, Praful is threatened by the loan sharks to pay within 10 days or face death, so she is disturbed and anxious, unable to concentrate on her wedding plans.
Therefore, Praful develops the habit of stealing whereby first she disguises herself (wearing oversized sunglasses and a hood) and approaches a cashier at a gas station shop. She collects only $10,000 so she has to go and rob a bank (which she learns how to on YouTube), with a disguise, and hands a note written with red lipstick that says money should be given to her otherwise she will blow the whole bank as she is strapped to a bomb. Praful's second robbery gets foiled by a bank manager who bumps into her when she tries to rob the bank in the similar fashion. When the manager asks her name, Praful tells her name ' Simran', the name of a popular character from an Indian blockbuster film which her mother ultimately watches often. Although Praful's plan to rob the bank gets foiled, she manages to escape and robs another bank in the similar manner.
Praful Patel has now become a most wanted criminal with the name ' Simran – The Lipstick Bandit'. Despite robbing 3 to 4 banks successfully, Praful is still short of collecting fifty thousand dollars. Meanwhile, Praful develops a liking towards Sameer, and confides in him her bad habits of gambling and stealing which he does not take seriously, thinking it is some kind of a joke. Trouble comes back when loan sharks attack Praful in her hotel for money and Praful's ex-boyfriend Mike – the general manager of the hotel, steals the money from her locker room and refuses to give the money back to her until and unless she submits to his sexual advances/desires. Praful ultimately hits him and gets suspended from the hotel, after which she tells the loan sharks that her money has been stolen. By now, these loan sharks know that Praful is actually 'Simran – The Lipstick Bandit', so they ask her to rob one more bank and this time with a bigger amount—for which they offer her a gun to finish the job.