Weekend

On this weekend, I am writing about one of the most versatile actor of the Bollywood, who initially in pre independence era started as romantic hero but  he did not like playing romantic hero and then switched on to negative (villain) roles and  later on he switched to playing character roles. He was the most dreaded villain of 50s and 60s, and  it is to his credit that he played the villain role so convincingly that none of the parents named their newly born son on his name, in the era when parents used to name their children with name of then famous film artist. His real name was Pran Krishan Sikand, and we all know him as

PRAN

He was born on 12^th Feb 1920 in a wealthy Punjabi family. He actually wanted to become photographer, but a chance meeting with writer Wali Mohd. at a shop in Lahore, got him first film role in ‘Yamla Jat’, a punjabi movie, the film featured Durga Khote and Noor Jehan. His first hindi film was ‘Khandaan’ which featured him as romantic hero opposite Noor Jehan. After the partition he landed in Bombay and after struggling for few months he got a break in ‘Ziddi’ starring Dev Anand and Kamini Kaushal in the lead roles,  and he was villain in that film. This film launched his career in Bombay and after that he never looked back. By 1950 he had established himself as premier villain in Bollywood.

From 1950 to mid 1960s he mainly acted as Villain/negative role  with all the leading heroes and directors, he acted with Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor , Dev Anand in the 50s, later on with heroes like Shammi kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Manoj Kumar, Joy mukherjee, Biswajeet and many more. He must have worked with all the top directors of that era like Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor, Nasir Hussain, Shakti Samanta, A Bhim Singh, MV Raman , Kalidaas and many more. With most of the directors he must have worked in multiple films. In the 60s he brought comic touch to his villainous character in films like Kashmir Ki Kali, Khandaan, Pooja Ke Phool etc.. He also played roles in comedy films starring Mehmood & Kishore Kumar. His collaborations with Mehmood included films like Saadhu Aur Shaitaan, Laakhon Mein Ek, and with Kishore Kumar include Aasha, Bewqoof, Half ticket, Man Mauji.

Although it was Raj Kapoor who gave Pran a positive character role in his film Aah, but at that time Pran was considered only villain and people did not like him in that role. It was to the credit of Hero Manoj Kumar who gave Pran his most memorable positive character role in his first directorial movie ‘Upkaar’ (1967). The role of Malang Chacha and song picturised on him ‘Kasme Wade Pyar wafa’ made Pran so famous that people loved him so much in that role and started loving him. After this Pran had to leave villainy and continue with positive roles. Now every film of Pran used to have one dedicated song picturised on him, which used to become highlight of the film, songs like ‘Yaari Hai Imaan Mera, Yaar Meri Zindagi’-from Zanzeer, ‘Hum Bolega to Bologe Ki Bolta Hai’ from Kasuti,  ‘ Michael Daaru Pee Ke Danga Karta Hai’ from Majboor, ‘Raaz ki Baat Keh Doon To ‘ from Dharma and many more.

Pran and Ashok Kumar were very close friends in professional and real life. They acted together in 27 films from Afsana (1951). Their other famous films were Mr X, Adhikaar, Victoria No 203, Chori Mera Kaam and Raja Aur Rana. From 1969 to 1982 he was one of the highest paid actors of Bollywood, sometimes he would  be paid more than the lead stars of the film. During the later period he accepted negative roles some times in films like Andha Kanoon, Duniya, Insaaf Kaun Karega, Dharam Adhikari.

By 1990s he had almost stopped working in the films, in 1991 he produced and acted in a film called Lakshmanrekha, which was directed by his son, but film did not do well at box office. Amitabh Bachchan requested Pran to do roles in his home production Tere Mere Sapne and Mrityudata. His character in Mrityudata was modified to compensate for his shaking legs in real life and in Tere Mere Sapne, his shots were taken with him seated.

Some of Pran’s memorable films were : Ziddi (1948), Bahar (1951), Azaad(1955),Chori Chori (1955) Halaku (1956), Madhumati (1958), Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1961), Half Ticket (1962), Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), Shaheed (1965), Gumnaam (1965), Ram Aur Shyam (1967), Upkaar (1967), Heer Ranjha (1970), Johny Mera Naam (1970), Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Parichay (1972), Victoria No. 203, Jungle Mein Mangal (1972), Zanjeer(1973), Bobby (1973), Dharma (1973), Majboor (1974), Dharamveer (1977), Vishwanath (1978), Karz (1980), Sharabi (1984) and Shahenshah (1988).

He was bestowed with many awards, and prominent among them were

Padma Bhushan in 2001 by Govt of India

Dada Sahib Phalke Award in 2013 by Govt of India

Filmfare award for best Supporting Actor Upkaar (1967), Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool (1969) and Be Imaan (1972). Lifetine Achievement Award (1997).

Pran once commented that if Filmfare had started the award for Best Negative Role/Villain- he would have won all the awards from 1953 to 1972.

There was one more special thing in Pran’s film career, in the titles of the film his name always used to come  last (like Ashok Kumar’s name was first)—it would come as ‘and Pran’ or ‘above all Pran’. Even his autobiography is titled –and Pran.

Although he played most of the time a negative character in the films, in his personal life he was a thorough gentlemen. People from the film industry always used to call him as ‘Pran Sahab’. His favourite line “Barkhurdar” became immensely popular.

He died in Mumbai on 12^th July 2013 at the age of 93.

He along with Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor & Dev Anand, was a rare breed of actor from the golden era of Bollywood.

Waiting for your comments/views/feed backs on this blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

14^th Jun 2019