Prince Salim falls in love with Anarkali, a courtesan in his father Akbar's kingdom. Akbar forbids Salim to prolong this affair as he wanted his son to marry a Rajput princess and thereby strengthen communal harmony. So Akbar forbade Saleem from seeing Anarkali again. But Salim becomes blind in his love for Anarkali leading to a struggle between father and his adamant son. All of Akbar and Minister Man Singh's attempts to separate the lovers fail.