Jewel Thief

Jewel Thief
1967
4/5 stars

Vinay (Dev Anand) suddenly finds himself being mistaken for another man named Amar.  It then begins to seem that this Amar is a jewel thief, and Vinay's doppelganger.  Vinay joins with his father, the police commissioner, to infiltrate Amar's gang to catch the thief.

The film also stars Vyjayantimala as the main love interest, and Ashok Kumar as her brother.  It also features four actresses in secondary romantic roles: Anju Mahendru, Tanuja, Faryal and Helen.

This popular movie is, for the most part, an enjoyable watch.  It becomes genuinely confusing--intentionally, no doubt--to keep up with who is doing what: Amar or Vinay.  This adds to the feeling of suspense, as does some excellent film angles and the incidental music.  It contains a great surprising plot twist.  The music was average, and there are no exciting musical numbers, though it was fun to see the famous Helen dance.  The costumes are mostly typical 1960's outfits, though Vyjayantimala did wear some beautiful traditional saris.  The acting was more stilted than is the style today, but all the cast did well portraying their roles and creating the tense atmosphere.  Despite being sometimes hard to follow--perhaps a problem due to having to read subtitles--it's easy to see why Jewel Thief was such a success and still enjoyed today.