The film became a box office hit. It also received the Filmfare Best Sound Award to J.M. Barot. Tanuja received a Filmfare nomination as Best Supporting Actress.

A scene in the film, showing Dev Anand pretending to be completely drunk, is lifted from the classic Clint Eastwood movie A Fistful of Dollars.

It spawned a sequel 3 decades later called The Return of Jewel Thief. Dev Anand and Ashok Kumar were the only actors to reprise their roles.

Plot Summary

Vinay, an ordinary young man who finds himself constantly mistaken for a look-alike jewel thief named Amar. Vinay works with the police to impersonate Amar and crack his crime ring–but it seems that Amar has decided to impersonate Vinay, as well, and soon their true identities are thoroughly muddled.

Vinay lives with his father, a Police Commissioner, and his mom in Bombay. Vinay’s dad is quite upset with him as he has not learnt any skills, and spends all his time examining stones and jewelery. The city is being held to ransom by a daring jewel thief, who continues to baffle them to no end. They do get a pleasant surprise when they find out that he has secured employment with a leading jeweler by the name of Vishamber Nath. Vinay also gets to meet Nath’s attractive daughter, Anju, and there is romance budding in the air. This is short lived when several people greet Vinay as “Amar” or “Prince Amar”. Things come to a boil when a young woman named Shalini comes forward and claims that Vinay is her fiancée. Vinay is able to prove to them that he is indeed Vinay, and cooperates with them to locate this elusive Amar – only to find himself embroiled in a devious scheme – that robs him of his sanity – makes lose his memory, identity, and makes him a target of every policeman in India and Nepal.