Jewel Thief
Year: 1967
Director: Vijay Anand
Cast: Dev Anand, Vyjayanthimala, Tanuja

The hubbub in a swinging party slowly evolves into an altercation. A woman is accusing a man to be her lost fiancé and he is vehemently denying even having met her. Enter the woman’s brother, who after an angry scuffle with the man over the same issue, challenges him to prove his identity by showing his bare foot- as apparently the man they both think who he is, has an extra toe in his right foot.

An expectant hush descends on the scene. All eyes suspiciously turn to the man’s feet as he slowly removes his sock and shoe- the camera slowly zooms in. Is there an extra toe? Is the man really the woman’s fiancé or just a look-alike?

This particular scene in Jewel Thief is a masterpiece of Goldie- Vijay Anand’s direction. In that one dramatic scene, he firmly establishes identities of two identical looking characters- Vinay- a way-too- confident, debonair employee at a jewelry shop and Amar- an elusive mystery-man who has duped an innocent lady. Soon the events take even more serious and sinister turn and it starts becoming apparent that the look-alike mystery-man is most likely to be the notorious jewel-thief, wanted by the police for his daredevil thefts of jewelry stores all across the country.

The jewel-thief soon strikes even at the jewelry store where Vinay is working. Now Vinay- who is a police commissioner’s son and also a man caught up in fancies of two beautiful ladies, has an unenviable task of tracking the clever criminal who is using his face to mask his own identity.

The ingenious plot of the film is a perfect web of deceit and mystery and the way the suspense unfolds after keeping you guessing all throughout is a work of genius. It is an out-and-out Vijay Anand triumph- he not only directed it with flair but also wrote its engrossing story and dialogues. With seasoned actors like Dev Anand, Ashok Kumar, Sapru and Vyjayanthimala, the performances fit in perfectly just as pieces in this jig-saw puzzle. Indeed, amongst all if one performance really catches eye, then that is of Tanuja- playing a bold babe of the swinging sixties.

Sachinda Burman’s superb music further provided opportunities for Goldie’s exquisite song-taking and songs like Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara, Rulake Gaya Sapna, Raat Akeli Hai and the fitting fiery finale Hothon Mein Aisi Baat went on to make this film a stylized musical crime-thriller.