Pran – The most celebrated and powerful villain of Indian cinema

Since early days of cinema and stories, hero is always the good man and villain represents wicked or evil. Characters with grey shades came into existence later only, when heroes began to experiment with negative roles as well. During the classic era of Bollywood, there was a clear line drawn between antagonist and protagonist, representing hero as the best among the best and villain as worst among the worst. In public life too, villains are always approached with a negative mentality mostly. But when it comes to Pran, who gave new definitions to villain on screen, he enjoyed equal status in film circle along with heroes and remained well-respected among all. Interestingly during his career peek days of 1960s to early 1980s, he received more remuneration than film heroes including the superstar Amitabh Bachchan. The only exception was Rajesh Khanna. Isn’t it interesting? That’s the Bollywood legend Pran – a face not easy to forget.

Pran was born in Old Delhi into a rich Punjabi family. His father was a civil engineer and contractor. After studies he worked as a photographer for some time. It was a life changing moment when he got acquainted with the writer Wali Mohammed Wali. He marked his screen debut as a villain with 1940 Punjabi film, Yamla Jat scripted by Wali. When the movie became a box office hit, Pran became busy in the film industry. Initially he played hero roles on big screen, with Khandan being the first release in a lead hero role. When he couldn’t succeed as a hero, he moved to villain roles which surprisingly redefined Hindi cinema.

During his early days his presence in the movies of Motilal Gidwani was well noticed; Khazanji, Kaise Khoon, Khamosh Nigahein etc being a few instances. During 1945-1946, he appeared in 22 movies of which 18 were released in Pakistan also. During 1947 there was a small break in his professional life following Pakistan and Bengal partition, Independence etc, and from 1948 onwards he became fully active in film scene.

With mid-1950s he became the other name of Bollywood villain of silver screen, and started frequently working with the most celebrated heroes – Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor which elevated his position and stardom. He also regularly worked with Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra, Shammi Kapoor, Joy Mukherjee and many other actors. He enjoyed a glorious era in the 1960s playing villain roles in most of the successful films made during the decade. In most cases, his character tries to win the heart of the film’s heroine or flirt with her and always fail in this attempt – Love in Tokyo, Kashmir Ki Kali, Brahmachari, Phir Wohi Dil Laaya Hoon, Gumnaam….Films are countless. As a joke, we can say heroines of 1960s feared Pran onscreen because of his ‘evil eye’. He worked with almost all actors of the era and the directors also loved to work with him frequently. Pran became a permanent fixture for villain roles for almost all films made during late 1950s and throughout 1960s.

His mysterious smiles, intensity on screen, crooked look, cigar smoking, love and lust towards lead heroine and greed towards money – all these factors were more than needed for the villain on screen, and it also earned him the title of the most fearsome onscreen villain Hindi cinema ever had. Everyone hated him as villain onscreen, yet loved him with open heart behind screen. Dev Anand starrer Ziddi gave him a big break as villain on big screen, and there was no turning back after that. Grihasti, Aparadhi, Putli etc are some of his early hits. A duet with Sharda in Grihasti, distinct dialogue delivery in Sheesh Mahal, impersonation in Adalat etc showed his range of acting skills as early as in 1950s.

He played villain roles for Dilip Kumar’s career best movies such as Madhumati, Azad, Devdas, Ram Aur Shyam etc. With Dev Anand, he worked for the movies – Munimji and Amardeep, and with Raj Kapoor delivered some career best roles such as Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Aah, Chaliya, Chori Chori, Jagte Raho etc. With 1970s he regularly worked with Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in many of their super hit films, and by this time he started playing positive roles too. His comic role as Sher Khan in Zanjeer is memorable.

Pran – Some interesting and unknown facts

1. His full name is Pran Krishan Sikand.

2. After studies he wanted to become a professional photographer. But destiny brought him to cine world. He also worked as a photographer for a brief period.

3. As his family didn’t support his career in films, he didn’t tell anyone when he got first break in films.

4. During his initial days in Hindi cinema in the 1940s he played a few hero roles. But couldn’t succeed and hence switched over to villain roles.

5. He played lead role in movies like Khandan, Pipli Saheb, Halaku etc. From 1969 onwards he started playing character roles also with equal status of lead hero; Nanhe faristey, Dharma, Victoria No 203, Zanjeer etc to mention.

6. Rarely do we recall Pran as one of the best character artists of Hindi cinema, because his image as villain is not easy to forget. His roles in Upkar, Zanjeer etc are among the best where he played good man onscreen. He was also a recipient of Filmfare award for best supporting actor for the years – 1967, 1969 and 1972.

7. His impact as villain on Indian film audience is so powerful that no parent has ever dared to name their child as ‘Pran’ after he established himself as the lead villain of Indian cinema, despite the fact that ‘Pran’ is indeed a nice and cute name.

8. He received Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2012 at the age of 93 a few months before his death. It was a little late, but not too late, and the legendary actor was so happy to receive the honour.

9. He was also a recipient of Filmfare Life Time Achievement Award in 1997, Star Screen Life Time Achievement Award in 2000, Stardust Millennium Award for best villain in 2000, BFJA for best supporting actor in 1961, 1966 and 1973, Padma Bhushan in 2001 and many more.

10. In a career spanning to around 6 decades between 1940 and 2007, he gave life to more than 400 characters. He moved towards positive character roles in the 1980s.

11. He had close relationship with Ganguly family, and hence frequently worked with Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar for many movies.

12. Between 1969 and 1982 he was paid more than lead hero in most of his films, where he played antagonist or positive supporting roles. Rajesh Khanna was the only exception. He was paid more than Amitabh Bachchan in most of his movies in 1970s even while Bachchan stayed as the no: 1 actor of Bollywood. Still now it’s a rare phenomenon in Indian cinema.

13. He formed a successful team with actor Rajesh Khanna and they worked in 14 movies together, mostly in 1970s. Most of those movies were commercially successful. As both hero and villain were among the most paid actors of the time, many producers hesitated to cast them together in a single film because of lack of fund.

14. Pran played lead actor role with black shades in the movie ‘Aurat’ in the late 1960s while Rajesh Khanna played the supporting role of his brother-in-law. The movie was released before Aradhana magic happened, which placed Khanna as the first superstar of Bollywood.

15. Amitabh-Pran Jodi of 1970s was often compared with MGR-Nambiar duo of Tamil cinema. They worked together in 14 movies and Pran was paid more than Amitabh in most of them. In fact Amitabh’s name was recommended to the filmmakers of Zanjeer by none other than Pran, and the movie changed Amitabh’s life forever. The role was initially rejected by Dev Anand and Dharmendra. After Amitabh turned a star, he always insisted to work with Pran, just like MGR-Nambiar pair.

16. Pran played several positive roles with Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s. He played Amitabh’s friend in Zanjeer and father in Amar Akbar Antony – two of the blockbuster hits of Amitabh’s career. Dostana, Majboor etc are a few more.

17. Manna Dey’s voice suits him the best. Kasme Vade of Upkaar and Yaari Hai Imaan of Zanjeer are among such instances. It’s also rumoured that many top singers hesitated to sing for him as he played villain onscreen.

18. He frequently used the word ‘barkhurdaar’ onscreen. In fact he popularized this word.

19. He signed ‘Bobby’ for just 1 rupee as Raj Kapoor was going through financial troubles following the box office failure of Mera Naam Joker.

20. He had a makeup artist at his home who sketched his style for most of his movies of 1960s and 1970s. He also did his own makeup for many films.

21. As an actor, he first played a female character Sita in a local Ramleela, where Ram’s role was enacted by Madan Puri.

22. Ashok Kumar and Pran were thick friends, and they acted in more than 25 films together.

23. Upkaar in 1967 was one of the first positive roles he played onscreen after a long time, and his role as handicapped was well received. The role was given by Manoj Kumar who donned the role of a director for the first time.

24. In most of his films, his name in the credits would appear last and frequently written as …..and Pran.

25. Though he rejected many film roles since early 1990s due to age related problems, he didn’t hesitate to accept the roles of Tere Mere Sapne and Mrityudaata offered by his friend Amitabh Bachchan. He shot most of those scenes in seated position. Later too he played a few brief roles on Bollywood screen.