Hamraaz is extraordinary quality entertainment of its times, which benefits from superb writing, excellent direction, good acting and phenomenal music. In this regard, the film is B. R. Chopra at his most quintessential. It's stylish and enjoyable and very affecting throughout. The sudden turn of events it takes halfway through the story is most unexpected but it is a fantastic twist at that, quite Hitchcockian I would say. First it turns into a successful thriller, later into a murder mystery, and it works well all through. The gripping delivery, very characteristic of Chopra's films at the time, is very tight and successful. The film's second half is therefore much stronger than the first, but the film has many qualities going for it, among which the cinematography and camera work are quite excellent for the times.
The film's main trump-card other than the interesting story and the technical finesse, is unquestionably the music, which can't get better than this. Comng from the great musci director Ravi, this is hardly surprising. All the numbers are classically melodious and wonderfully sung by Mahendra Kapoor (take "Neele Gagan Ke Tale", "Kisi Patthar Ki Murat Se"). The actors all do well. Vimi, a lesser-known actress, is competent in her most famous role, which is quite uncommon for a leading Hindi film actress. Sunil Dutt, on the other hand, does a pretty common role, similar to what he did in Raj Khosla's thriller Mera Saaya, and he does well as always. Supporting parts by excellent character actors like Blaraj Sahni and Iftekhar are a great addition, and Raaj Kumar and Mumtaz do equally well. Great entertainment, indeed.
