Plot

Badshah Babar arrives in India from Iran, drives out Ibrahim Lodhi, makes peace with the Hindus and rules Delhi. He also adopts Rajkumari as his daughter and treats like his very own child, even though he has two sons, Humayun and Kamran, and a daughter, Gulbadan. Babar also finds out that Rajkumari is soon to be married to Randhir, the Rajkumar of Chanderi, who is out to avenge the conquest of his native land, by killing Humayun. Before that could happen Humayun falls seriously ill, Babar prays for his survival, but himself becomes ill and passes away, leaving Humayun to recuperate and be crowned the next Badshah. Humayun meets Hamida Bano and both fall in love with each other so much so that he loses all interest in the running of the state. When Delhi is attacked by Jai Singh, Kamran and Khan Bahadur join in the attack, forcing Hamida to flee. Humayun fends off the attackers, but must re-route his armies when Rajkumari is taken hostage. He does manage to rescue her, make amends with Randhir, but loses Delhi to his opponents, and flees to his native Iran. This is where he will meet and marry Hamida, and both will become parents of Shahenshah of all Shahenshah's, Jalaludin Akbar. But before that Humayun must take back his kingdom, and in order to do this he must first take Kabul, then Lahore, and then Agra and finally, if he manages to survive, Delhi.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Mughal emperor Humayun (Ashok Kumar). Advocating communal harmony, a policy prompted by contemporary developments, the film stresses the friendship between the victorious Babar (Nawaz) and the defeated Rajputs; he asks the Rajkumari (Veena), daughter of the slain Rajput King, to assume her father's throne and to regard Babar as a father. In the latter part the story, Humayun sacrifices his kingdom to save the Rajkumari. Hamida Bano (Nargis) is a commoner with whom Humayun falls in love, but who turns down his offer of marriage claiming that women, for all kings, are mere playthings. The major highlights of the film are the elaborate Mughal sets and the spectacular battle scenes with elephants and horses. Cecil B.DeMille described the film, in a letter to the film-maker, as a 'masterpiece of lighting composition.—gavin@sunny_deol2009@yahoo.com