Pran Krishan Sikand (12 February 1920 – 12 July 2013), better known by his mononym, Pran, was an Indian actor, known as the greatest villain ever in the history of Indian cinema and character actor in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to the 1990s. He was one of the most highly successful & respected veteran actors in the history of Indian cinema. He was also one among the highest paid actors of his time.
He played hero roles from 1940 to 1947, negative character from 1942 to 1991, and played supporting and character roles from 1967 to 2007. The decades of late 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s were the peak periods of Pran's stint as a negative character actor, especially 1950s & 1960s. Pran was the first true personification of "evil" on the Indian screen. The intensity of his portrayal of negative/villainous characters on the screen was effective enough to desist the Indian people from naming their children "Pran" in the 1950s & 60s & subsequently thereafter (when Pran was at the peak of his villainy). In a long and prolific career Pran appeared in over 362 films. He played the leading man in works such as Khandaan (1942), Pilpili Saheb (1954) and Halaku (1956). He is known for his roles in Madhumati (1958), Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960), Upkar (1967), Shaheed (1965), Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Ram Aur Shyam (1967), Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool (1969), Johny Mera Naam (1970), Victoria No. 203 (1972), Be-Imaan (1972), Zanjeer (1973), Majboor (1974), Don (1978), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Duniya (1984).
Pran has received many awards and honours in his career. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1967, 1969 and 1972 and was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He was awarded as the "Villain of the Millennium" by Stardust in 2000. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2001 for his contributions to the arts. He was honoured in 2013 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artistes, by the Government of India. In 2010, he was named on the list of CNN's Top 25 Asian actors of all time.
Pran died on 12 July 2013 at the age of 93 of old age after suffering from a prolonged illness in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital.
Early life and education
Pran was born on 12 February 1920 in Ballimaran, Old Delhi, into a wealthy Punjabi Hindu family. His father, Kewal Krishan Sikand, was a civil engineer and a government civil contractor, his mother was Rameshwari. Pran was one of seven children; four sons and three daughters.
Pran was academically gifted, especially in mathematics. His father had a transferable job, and so Pran studied in various places, including Dehradun, Lahore, Kapurthala, Meerut and Unnao (Uttar Pradesh), finally completing his matriculation from Hamid School, in Rampur (U.P.). Thereafter, he joined A. Das & Co., Delhi as an apprentice to become a professional photographer. He travelled to Shimla and played Sita in a local staging of "Ramlila". Madan Puri enacted the role of Rama in this play.
