A moderate commercial success, it was awarded the All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film, it became the first film to win the Filmfare Best Movie Award and the first Indian film to win the International Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, after "Neecha Nagar" (1946), which won the Palme d'Or (Grand Prize). It was also winner of the Social Progress Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In 2005, "Indiatimes Movies" ranked the movie amongst the "Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films". The film was also released in China and in USSR.