Was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign-Language Film category. It was India's first Oscar nomination.
Sunil Dutt famously saved Nargis during the fire sequence. Nargis was shown trapped inside a raging fire while Sunil Dutt jumps in and saves her. But the blaze roared out of control leaving Nargis stranded. Sunil Dutt quickly grabbed a blanket and plunged inside and, wrapping the blanket around themselves, the twosome ran out. It meant several, painful burns for Sunil but it also resulted in Nargis falling in love with him. They were married within a year.
The opening sequence showed a Hammer and Sickle symbol reflecting the producers company. However, since this movie was nominated for the Oscars during the cold war anti-communist period, the sequence had to be edited out.
It was the first submission by India for the Academy Awards in 1958 for Best Film in Foreign Language category. It lost by just one vote.
Sajid Khan, the child actor who played the young Birju, was a poor child from the slums of Bombay (now Mumbai). Mehboob Khan cast him after he saw the child standing in a crowd with a confident and somewhat arrogant attitude, hands on his hips.