Mumbai: Legendary actor Pran’s ability to bring versatility into his characters made him an icon in the Hindi film fraternity. Even though he portrayed the role of a villain in most of his movies, he always brought something fresh and new to his characters. Pran enthralled the audience from the 1940s to the 1990s.
Incidentally, Wednesday is the 100th birthday of Pran. On this occasion here are some facts about him.
Pran was born 1920 in Lahore as Pran Krishna Sikand and was from a middle class family. His father Kewal Krishan Sikand was a civil contractor working for the British government.
Pran wanted to pursue a career in photography… it was his passion. In a bid to chase his dreams, Pran joined A Das & company as an apprentice photographer.
However, man proposes and god has something else in store for him. The man, who also loved playing football during his spare time, was spotted by writer Mohammad Wali at a betel shop. At that time, Wali was planning to make a Punjabi film titled Yamla Jat. Wali liked Pran at first sight and signed him for the movie. Initially Pran was hesitant as he did not belong to the entertainment world. But once he did so, there was no looking back. Yamla Jat released in the year 1940 and was a super hit.
In spite of donning the villain’s coat in most of his films, Pran had an immense following. There were many occasions, when through his sheer acting skills, Pran pulled a film on his own, putting the hero in the shade.
Pran got his first break in Hindi movies with the film Khandaan in 1942 which also featured Nur Jahan. It also was a huge hit.
Pran got married to Shukla Ahluwalia 18 April 1945. They have three children, two sons Arvind and Sunil and daughter Pinky.
