The contrast is between the aggressive young mughal King Khilji from Afghanistan, a unrepentant womanizer who kills without remorse and the self-sacrificing young king and queen of Chittor. Khilji hears about the beauty of the young queen of Chittor and launches an assault on that kingdom with a large troop that camps outside of Chittor for months. While the king of Chittor follows the rules of engagement, the Mughals initially capture and then kill the young king by deceit, shooting arrows in his back when they realize that their king Khilji is going to loose in a man to man sword fight.
The young queen and other hindu ladies of Chittor hear about the death of their king and are prepared to commit Jauhar rather than bear rape and torture by the invading Mughal army. The movie ends with the ladies of Chittor walking into a fire lead by their queen. According to wikipedia
'Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was the Hindu custom of mass self-immolation by royal women in parts of the Indian subcontinent, to avoid capture, enslavement and rape by any foreign invaders, when facing certain defeat during a war.'
The movie has an epic style and paints an amazing picture on a large colorful canvas. The palaces are spotless and display the architecture of that part of historical India. The war scenes are impressive as well.
I am glad to see the stories I read in history comic and story books as a child brought to screen in rich detail.
