On-screen villain, off-screen hero: Pran Krishan Sikand
If he is born again, he would like to be born as Pran, says the actor-villain of yesteryear. It comes as no wonder to anyone that the ever popular film star of Bollywood, popularly known as Pran, should be of this opinion considering the wonderful life he’s led—one full of success, fame, glory and recognition. For six decades, he swung between terrifying his audiences to being a comic to being a genial Christian and finally a caring grandfather.
Whether he blew smoke rings in his heroine’s face, kidnapped children out of jealousy and anger or was a fun-loving Christian man, he acted with passion and imbued his profession with a rare honesty. As a villain, he struck terror in the hearts of kids and their parents alike, as much as love in his lighter roles as the one of the singing-dancing Pathan in Zanjeer.
Born: Pran Krishan Sikand on February 12, 1920
Place of birth: New Delhi
Years active: 1942-2003 (retired)
Born Pran Krishan Sikand on February 12, 1920 into a very rich family in Ballimaran, New Delhi, Pran’s father, Kewal Krishan Sikand, was a civil engineer in government service and his mother Rameshwari, a housewife. The couple had four sons and three daughters.
He was a very good student at school, and excelled at mathematics. His father, however, had a transferable job, so Pran ended up studying at schools at Dehradun, Meerut, Kapurthala, and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, and finally appeared for his matriculation from Raza High School, Rampur. He didn’t particularly care to study further, but wanted to pursue his interest in photography.
So, he joined the famous photo company, A. Das & Co., Delhi, as an apprentice. The shop was to open a branch in Shimla to which Pran was transferred. Here, he was happy to spend a 12-month happy time learning the fine art of photography. The following year, another branch was opened at Lahore, and he had to move there.
He loved Lahore as much as Shimla He didn’t mind. Lahore was an exhilarating place to be for a young teenager and he had soon made himself at home there. He landed his first role at Simla where he enacted the role of Sita opposite Madan Puri, who played Rama in the local stage rendition of Ramlila.
Entry into Punjabi films: After the success of his role in Ramlila, he went on to star in a Punjabi film, Yamla Jat (1940) as a villain. This role was the result of a chance meeting with the film’s writer, Wali Mohammad Wali, at a paan shop in Lahore where he was learning the nuances of still photography.
Walli found Pran’s face interesting and recommended him to his friend, Dalsukh Pancholi, who then took him on as a villain for his Punjabi film, Yamla Jat (1940). After this, came yet another Punjabi film, Chaudhary (1941), in which, again he was cast as villain. Both films did exceptionally well and again Pancholi offered Pran a role in his film, Khandaan (1942).
With these films, he soon became a name as a villain in the Lahore film industry, along with other renowned villains of the times, K.N. Singh and Ajit. A year later, he acted in Pancholi’s Khandaan (1942). For the first time, he got the hero’s role opposite Noor Jehan, who had acted with him as a child artiste. Though Khandaan was a superhit and he was offered a number of roles as leading man, he turned them all down on the grounds that he wasn’t interested in running around trees with girls. He was more interested in doing dark roles.
However, his career came to a premature end in Punjabi films because he didn’t have the authentic Punjabi accent. He was about to be thrown out of Yamla Jat when Wali intervened and his brother, Nazim Panipati, helped him spruce up his accent. The effect was amazing—Pran worked in not just this film but 22 after this until he was forced to leave Lahore due to Partition. Sensing communal disturbance, he sent his wife and little son to his relatives in Indore.
Hindi film career: Partition brought about a lull in his career. Finally, he left Lahore and sought to make a mark in films in Bombay, arriving here on August 14, 1947 with his young wife and an 18-month old son. However, he had an unusually long wait before landing a movie role in 1948. After an eight-month-long wait, in 1948, he swung a role in Ziddi, with the help of scriptwriter Saadat Hasan Manto and actor Shyam.
This Bombay Talkies film starred Dev Anand and Kamini Kaushal and was directed by Shaheed Latif. The salary he received for this film was a princely Rs. 500 of which the actor demanded that Rs. 100 be paid in advance so that he could take his wife out to dinner to the Ambassador.
This film helped launch his film career in Bombay. After the success of this film, there was no turning back for Pran. In fact, it was an important film for Dev Anand too, as it was his first role as a hero. Fortune seemed to smile on Pran a lot now because within the next seven days, he signed on three more films—S. M. Yusuf’s Grihasti, (which went on to become a diamond jubilee hit), Prabhat Films’ Apradhi and Wali Mohammad’s Putli!!
Though Ziddi did a lot for Pran’s career, it is difficult to say which one film really established his Pran’s career, but the likeliest one would perhaps be DD Kashyap’s Badi Bahen (1949). The year 1949 was critical for Pran as this year grounded him firmly as a villain—one who would reign the silver screen until 1967 when he switched over from negative to positive roles.
The success of Ziddi brought him a role in Apradhi for which he was again offered Rs. 500. However, Pran felt he should be paid another Rs. 100 or Rs. 600. The producer was initially in a fix as the lead star of the film opposite Madhubala was also being paid Rs 500. Pran decided not to do the film if his fee was not fixed at Rs. 600. Finally, he was paid Rs. 600, though it was highly confidential.
When he returned home that day after shooting, his wife told him that Wali had called to offer Pran a role in his new film, Putli, for which he was being offered Rs. 1000 a month. Soon after, he signed on Ghrihasti. And over the next four days, he signed on four films!!
Ziddi was truly the turning point in his career as after this came prominent roles in films like Afsana from the B.R. Chopra stable (1951), Aah by Raj Kapoor (1953), Malkin by O.P. Dutta (1953) and Badi Bahu by Bimal Roy (1954).
Two decades of intense villainy: Always the bad guy in a Hindi film, the arch villain, Pran, epitomized villainy in Hindi films for two decades spanning 1948 to 1967. His sophisticated performances evoked terror in the hearts of children and adults as he lived the wickedness of the role he played. If you wanted to know just how bad a goon could be, check out any of his roles in his over 270 films.
He held the imagination of the people to such an extent that though he is a kind and compassionate person off-screen, in his heyday he received death threats several times and has also been cursed by the public. However, Pran saw the bright side of this and took his public hatred to be proof that his performances made a difference to his audiences. In fact, audiences were so affected by his screen presence that they never named their sons Pran because of the evil connotations it raised.
When he sneered or raised his eyebrow, audiences knew that something horrible was on its way, particularly for the hero and heroine of the movie. He was the most villainous man on earth, to moviegoers of the 60s and 70s. With his rare intelligence, he brought each bad character alive on screen, rendering each one with a different mannerism or one-liner that was his trademark for that film. No wonder, then, that he won the sobriquet of ‘Villain of the Millenium.’
Pran’s film mannerisms: Some of the mannerisms he is best remembered for are:
Famous one-liners: These are just some of his famous mannerisms, but he’s also known for his one-liners. Some of them are:
Some notable roles: All said and done, his best ever role as a villain was Raj Kapoor’s Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960). Here, he played the role of a fearsome dacoit, Raka, who did not want his gang to surrender to the police. Though he had played the role of a dacoit in several movies, he gave a spin to this role by assuming a mannerism of buttoning his shirt all the way up to his collar and then running his finger around the collar while he spoke.
Pran admits to this being his own invention, all because the character of the dacoit was one of a man who knew that one day he would be either hanged or have his throat slit. So, his finger always wandered around his neck.
His role in Shaheed, though small, was impressive as the ill-fated freedom fighter Kahar Singh. This role won him several accolades. The story goes that Pran had turned down the director of the film, Sitaram Sharma, because his fee wasn’t high enough. But when Manoj Kumar, who wrote the film’s story and ghost directed it too, approached Pran for the role, he readily agreed, particularly when Manoj Kumar said he would expel the character from the story if Pran did not agree to do the role. So, Pran played the role of Kahar Singh, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Known to be the villain responsible for a thousand evil deeds onscreen, he hated repeating himself onscreen, so could not do the role of a Pathan because he had already accepted a similar role in Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer. He not only experimented with different roles but on the other hand, disliked repeating his role in other movies.
Pran played the title role of Halaku (1956) in the film by the same name, something the heroine, Meena Kumari, wasn’t too happy about. However, she was forced to change her mind when she saw the effort the actor put into his characterization. By the turn of the decade, Pran had earned the unique and dubious distinction of being the film industry’s hated villain—a role he played to the hilt each time.
At this time, he began to introduce subtle changes in his evil characterizations. Now, audiences saw a not entirely baddie in him. In fact, in Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), he gave a twist to his villainous role by having a funny side to his character. His famous line, “Satale, Satale, Kabhi to apna bhi samai aaye ga,” grew very popular.
Besides this, he also did a comic role in Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966), and in Jugnu (1973), he donned a Mujibur Rehman-like get up for his role. In Taqdeer Ka Badshah (1982), his get-up was similar to Abraham Lincoln. Similar changes in his onscreen evil characterization were also seen in Khandaan (1965), Shaheed (1965) and Dil Diya Dard Liya (1966).
His role of villain in films like Ram Aur Shyam made audiences tremble with fear and hate him, though they loved him as the good man, Mangal Chacha of Upkar. This movie marked a turning point in his career as his positive character made its own place in the hearts of the people. When he sang the song, Rishte naate pyar wafaa sab, it meant that audiences saw him differently, as he wanted it to be. The movie was a superhit, and so was his character of Malang Chacha.
Despite his role in Upkar, Pran continued to do villains’ roles as and when he was offered them, besides also doing the good man’s roles, until he finally bade adieu to the baddie’s roles with Roop Tera Mastana (1972), and later Andhaa Kanoon (1983) and Duniya (1984).
Over many decades, Pran worked with all the big stars and directors ranging from Sohrab Modi, Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor to Manoj Kumar and Vijay Anand.
Pran’s memorable characters: Perhaps each movie Pran worked in is etched with a special character that he enacted. The lively and loyal character of Sher Khan of Zanjeer stands out best in any cinegoer’s memory, especially the verve with which he sang and danced to the qawaali, Yaari hai imaan mera yaar.
After this movie, Amitabh Bachchan and Pran worked together in 11 films, some of which were Majboor (1975) in which he played a Goan drunkard. Here, he sang the song, Michael daru peke danga karta hai. Who can forget his fantastic performances in Amar Akbar Anthony (1978), Don (1980) and Naseeb (1981)? His superb dialog delivery, resonant voice and clear characterizations have etched have etched the memories of these movies in our minds forever.
Not just shades of grey: Switching from villainous roles, Pran also acted in Daman (1951) where die-hard fans saw him dancing with marvelous ease; in Aah (1953) he was the good guy; and in Pilpili Saheb, he had the lead role; in Sindbad the Sailor (1952) and Daughter of Sindbad (1958), Pran enacted the typical swashbuckling pirate. He also acted in action-packed thrillers like Azad (1955); historicals such as Aan (1952) and Raj Tilak (1958); social themes such as Baradari (1955) and light romances that included Chori Chori (1956), Munimji (1955) and Asha (1957).
Most memorable roles: His most memorable roles still remain the title role of Halaku (1956), the terrifying dacoit ‘Rakha’ in Raj Kapoor’s Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai. For this latter film, he won the Bengal Film Journalists Award (1961) for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role. By this time, he had acted in over 350 films first as a villain and then in character roles, each time famous for a mannerism or one-liner that he used throughout the film. His last villainous role was in Roop Tera Mastana (1972).
Positive characters: After achieving this milestone, he went on to play the positive character of Malang Chacha in Manoj Kumar’s Upkaar (1967). In this film, the popular song, set to music by Kalyanji- Anandji, Kasme vaade pyaar wafaa was sung by him. As a matter of fact, with this movie, Kamini Kaushal also switched to character roles.
The success of this film won him the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award in 1967. Emboldened by his success, he acted in many more positive roles as a father or friend of the lead star. Some of these films were Parichay where he played a grandfather of a string of children, Zanjeer where he played a committed and loyal Pathan friend, Ansoo Ban Gaye Phool, and Amar Akbar Anthony where he played a Christian father. Other films in which he portrayed positive roles include Kasauti, Majboor, Kaalia, Dus Numbri, Don, Naseeb and Victoria No. 203. He also acted as Valmiki in a mythological titled, Luv-Kush.
In 1969, he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aanso Ban Gaye Phool. With films like Don, Zanjeer, Majboor and Amar Akbar Anthony in the 1970s, he was renowned for character roles. In fact, his role in Chandra Barot’s action-packed film, Don, brought him to the pinnacle of his career, when he was a much higher-paid star than Amitabh Bachchan.
Awards and honors:
Pran is the proud recipient of several Filmfare and Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards (BFJA). He won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award in 1967, 1969 and 1972, besides also winning the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He refused to accept the Best Supporting Award from Filmfare for his film, Be-Imaan, on the grounds that there was another film more deserving than his.
The BFJA also honored him with several awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Shaheed (1966) and Zanjeer (1973). Other organizations that awarded him were the Chitrlok Cine Circle Ahmedabad with the Best Character Award (1973); Bombay Film Award with the Most Versatile Actor award in 1976 and 1978; North Bombay Jaycees with the Best Character Actor award (1978).
Besides these, he also received commendations from the Punjabi Kala Sangam who awarded him the Kala Bhushan Award (1983). The following year, he won the following awards: the Extraordinary Special Award as Wizard of Acting from the Bombay Film Award; the Viyayshree Award for enriching Human Life and Outstanding Attainments by the India Int. Friendship Society; the Ars Gratia Artis award for excellence in emotive art and the Filmgoers Award for Reigning Abhinay Samrat.
In 1992, he was the proud recipient of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association award for his outstanding contribution to Indian Film Industry. In 2000, he won the Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award, the Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Villain of the Millennium award by Stardust. In 2001 came the icing on the cake—the Padma Bhushan, the No. 3 civilian award from the Indian government. In 2004, the Maharashtra government honored him with a Lifetime Achievement award.
Pran—the person: Despite all his villainous roles, at heart Pran has always been a very good person, extremely intelligent and a gifted artiste. He has a refined and cultured outlook and is loved and respected by everyone. He is known to have an interesting collection of smoking pipes.
He is a member of several organizations such as the CCI club Mumbai, Punjab Association, Mumbai, Bombay Provincial Hockey Association, Chelmsford Club Delhi, Western Indian Football Association Bombay, Press Club of India Delhi and The Otters Club Bombay.
His love for sports is legendary, particularly football. He even maintains his own football team, the Bombay Dynamos Football Club, of whom six members represented Maharashtra, and one played in the Olympics representing India. He financed this club for several years. He also learnt fencing for a couple of years.
He had several interests, despite his heavy work schedule. He always had enough time to organize cricket matches, relief morchas and charity shows as fundraisers such as ‘Hope 86’ and ‘Hope 87’ and events for the needy in the film industry. He also contributed his services to Maratha Sikshan Sanatha and the Film Industry Welfare Trust.
Under the aegis of the His Excellency Nawab Ali Yawar Jung (the late), Pran presented several charity shows for Bangladeshi refugees and for the deaf and dumb.
Now that he leads a retired life, he leads a secluded life with his family. To this day, he remains interested in watching football, hockey and cricket matches, reading and looking after his pet dogs. He has five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, who visit him regularly.
Though known for his misdeeds onscreen, off-screen, he is a principled and noble human being. His love for dogs goes back all the way to his childhood when he always had a pet dog.
Family background: In 1945, he married Shukla, and had two sons, Arvind and Sunil, and a daughter Pinky. His biography, ‘…and Pran’ was so named, his name in the credits would appear after those of the leading artistes and end with the words “…and Pran.”
Today, at 89, he is a very contented person with 60 illustrious years in filmdom behind him.
By Mithi Chinoy
