Shareef Budmaash

The Indian Government has developed plans for an aircraft that would take the country's air force to greater strength and position in the world. Obviously there are people interested in stealing those plans and selling them off to foreign lands at a huge price. Among them are Ajit and Jeevan. Jeevan's assistant Sudhir manages to steal the briefcase that has the microfilm of the plans plus jewellery worth Rs 50 lakhs. But he is apprehended by the police and sent to prison, but not before he hid the briefcase. Now, Jeevan and Ajit try to persuade Dev Anand (the clever jailbreaker Rocky) to get into that prison and force Sudhir to tell him where the microfilm is. In the interim, there is this cabaret dancer (Hema Malini) who is interested in the briefcase for the jewellery only. So, with the help of Hema, then Dev infiltrates the prison to help Sudhir make a prison break, only to know that Ajit has already got hold of the briefcase but is afraid to open it lest he damages the microfilm. How Dev Anand (is he actually Rocky?) and Hema stop the villains from getting hold of the microfilm is the rest of the film.

From the classic Jewel Thief, the inimitable Dev Anand made a spew of similar crime/suspense films that has plenty of shifty characters, skullduggery, twist and turns and the usual desi style emotional scenes - the final scene regarding Dev Anand and jeevan comes as a surprise though a little forced, and was there just to spring a surprise. It's an efficient crime thriller that keeps you watching, but the performances from Dev, Hema, Jeevan and Ajit - he plays a really callous villain - drives this romp.