The film came with some bold themes for the first time in the history of Indian cinema, showing an anti-hero character with two roles and an unmarried girl getting pregnant.

It was produced by Bombay Talkies, during the Second World War,[1] while it was in a succession battle between Devika Rani and Sashadhar Mukherjee after owner Himanshu Rai's death.

Unknown to them, the tormentor Indrajit is himself a tormented man, after his elder son Madan ran away after a fight with his authoritarian father several years ago.

The limited means is a great problem for Rani, the sole breadwinner in the house, having to support her younger sister Leela.

To make things worse, she is constantly troubled by the ruthless Indrajit, who threatens to turn her out of the house if she cannot repay the next instalment of the money owed by her father.

Things take a turn for the worse when Rani discovers that Leela is pregnant out of wedlock by her lover Mohan, who happens to be the son of Indrajit.

Desperate to raise funds for her medical treatment, he takes up Banke's offer to break the vault of his employer, who is none other than Indrajit.

Desperate to get back his son, Indrajit organises a live programme featuring Rani, knowing that his love for the young lady will impel Shekhar to come.

[9][11] But the hidden meaning got through to the people and backed by Anil Biswas's uplifting score, the song became an instant hit amidst the atmosphere of rising nationalistic fervour, it was an immensely popular song in the mid 40s, coming as it did less than 6 months after Mahatma Gandhi called for the Quit India Movement.

[13] Kismet was subjected to criticism by Babu Rao Patel of the Filmindia magazine for glorifying crime and portraying a criminal in good light.

[14] According to Box Office India, it has been given the status of 'All-Time Blockbuster', which reports that the film collected a nett gross of ₹1 crore[4] ($3.32 million).

One of the earliest all India blockbusters of Hindi cinema, it introduced double-role acting for the first time through its first superstar, Ashok Kumar.