Jewel Thief

Jewel Thief movie poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving old Bollywood poster of the 1967 super hit Hindi thriller written, edited and directed by Vijay Anand that featured the evergreen superstar of Indian cinema, Dev Anand in a double role.

Produced by Dev Anand and presented under his Navketan Films banner, Jewel Thief (1967) also starred Vyjayantimala and Ashok Kumar in key roles. Tanuja, Nazir Hussain, Sapru, Helen, Faryal, Anju Mahendru, Pratima Devi and Jagdish Raj appeared in supporting roles.

Shot partially in Sikkim, Jewel Thief (1967) told the story of an infamous criminal called Amar (Dev Anand) who has committed a string of sensational robberies, stealing jewels worth millions. The police commissioner (Nazir Hussain) vows to apprehend the criminal by Republic Day or resign if he fails to do so. The commissioner’s estranged son Vinay (Dev Anand) is a jewellery expert who finds employment at an unbelievably high salary with one of the largest jewelers in the city called Seth Vishamber Das (Sapru). The Seth’s daughter Anjali (Tanuja) begins to develop a strong liking for Vinay. Seth Vishamber Das’ friend Arjun Singh (Ashok Kumar) arrives from Sikkim along with his daughter Shalini (Vyjayantimala). At Anjali’s birthday party, Shalini mistakes Vinay for her fiance Amar, who is his doppelganger. When challenged by Arjun, Vinay proves to everyone that he is not Amar, who has six toes one foot. The plot thickens when it comes to light that Shalini’s engagement ring is stolen property. Police begin to suspect that Amar is the notorious jewel thief they have been looking for all along. The only clue they have to his identity is that he is a lookalike of the commissioner’s son Vinay. However, as the drama unfolds through several twists and turns, Amar’s true identity is revealed.

Printed and circulated during a subsequent release of the film (somewhere in the 1970s), this Jewel Thief movie poster was printed for publicity of the film in north Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

This Dev Anand movie poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a Bollywood poster studio in Delhi.

Striking close up hand painted portraits of the three key characters, Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala and Ashok Kumar are seen in this vintage Jewel Thief movie poster. A small full figure over painted still photo of Dev Anand is seen standing on the trademark hat worn by his hand painted portrait. The arrangement of the two portraits of Dev Anand give away the double role plot of the film.

The poster is set against a minimal white background, with a yellow geometric pattern appearing on the top. Typography used in this Jewel Thief movie poster is a mix of Devanagari Hindi and Urdu on the top and English at the bottom. The main English title of this old Vyjayantimala poster appears in orange red with a yellow border in a handwritten font.

The soundtrack album of Jewel Thief (1967) was composed by S.D. Burman, while lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. It was a blockbuster at the time of it’s release, giving Indian cinema a total of four unforgettable tracks: “Hothon Mein Aisi Baat Main Daba Ke Chali Aayi” sung by Lata Mangeshkar, “Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara” sung by Kishore Kumar, “Aasman Ke Neeche Hum Aaj Apne Peeche” sung by Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar and “Dil Pukare Aa Re, Aa Re, Aa Re” sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Mohammed Rafi.