Pran or Pran Krishan Sikand - The Villain of the Millennium

Born on February 12, 1920, to a government civil contractor in Old Delhi's Ballimaran (the mohalla of poet Mirza Ghalib), Pran's full name is Pran Krishan Sikand. His father Lala Krishan Sikand was only responsible for the construction of roads and bridges, the 'Kalsi' bridge of Dehradun was built during his tenure. 

Due to the frequent transfers of his father, Pran spent his childhood and adolescence sometimes in Kapurthala (Jalandhar, Punjab), sometimes in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, sometimes in Meerut, sometimes in Rampur and Dehradun (now Uttarakhand). Despite being quick in his studies due to frequent changes of place and school, Pran's mind started drifting away from his studies and he left his studies after matriculation.

Pran Saheb was very fond of photography and wanted to make a career in it. For this, he took training in photography and after working in Dehradun and Delhi for a few days, he got a job as a photographer in Shimla. Pran Saheb had got his desired job and he often used to go to the cultural programs and Ramlila etc. to take pictures. 

Once Pran had come to take pictures in one such Ramlila, and then suddenly he was asked to play the character of Sita in Ramlila. It turned out that the artist who was supposed to play that character did not come that day. At the repeated request of the organisers, Pran also gave up and his performance was highly appreciated. Madan Puri played the role of Lord Ram in this film. 

However, Pran Saheb did not have to go into the field of acting and working in films was a far cry because working there was not considered good at that time. Pran was not interested in acting but had become a little stylish after watching dramas and films. 

Pran Saheb had a long-standing addiction to cigarette smoking and would often go to a pan shop in Shimla after finishing his work in the evening and blow the rings of cigarette smoke in the sky. 

One evening, while standing in a similar style and blowing smoke rings in the air, the scriptwriter of the Punjabi films of that time, Mohammad Wali got a glimpse of Pran. Mohammad Wali found Pran's style very different and brilliant because he was looking for such a boy for his next film 'Yamla Jat'. He called Pran to meet him the next day but he did not take Wali's offer very seriously. 

A few days later, while watching a film, Mohammed Wali and Pran again clashed, this time Pran had to obey him. The remuneration for ‘Yamla Jat’ was fixed at Rs 50 per month and Pran made it a condition that he would continue to do photography work in his spare time. Actually, Pran did not want his father to know about his work in films. Well made for the Lahore film industry, Yamla Jat was released in 1940 and was a success. 

Pran Saheb did 20-22 Punjabi and Hindi films in a row, among which producer Dalsukh Pancholi's Vansh came in 1942 was the most popular. In this film, Pran played the role of the hero of the then-famous actress and singer Noor Jehan. Pran Saheb became a well-known name in the Lahore film world. When his father came to know about it, he too did not object. 

Meanwhile, Pran got married in 1945 and his wife 'Shukla' gave birth to a son a year later. It was the time of independence and partition of the country and the whole country was burning with the fire of riots. 

Meanwhile, on 11 August 1947, Pran reached Indore from Lahore to celebrate his son's first birthday as his wife and son were visiting their relative in Indore. It was found that the atmosphere in Lahore had completely deteriorated and it was no longer safe to go there, so Pran decided not to go to Lahore and try his luck in the Bombay film industry. 

Pran was sure that after working in 20-22 films, he would easily get work in films in Bombay, but this did not happen. Despite being a successful actor in Lahore, he had to struggle a lot to get work in Bombay. Pran also had no idea about this, so he and his family went to Bombay and took a room in a big hotel for convenience. A few days passed, and there was no work, but all his money was definitely over, even his wife's jewellery had to be sold. Well, Pran's wife had full confidence in him, which kept his spirits up. In view of the situation, Pran left the hotel and started living in a small lodge.

Once upon a time, Pran met his old friend, the writer Shahadat Hasan Manto and the famous actor of that era, Shyam. He invited Pran to audition for Bombay Talkies' next film, Ziddi, starring Dev Anand and Kamishi Kaushal, in an area of Bombay. The problem with Pran now was that he did not even have the money for the local train fare to go there. It was also necessary to go because there was also a fear of being stripped of the role. 

They decided that even if they had to wait for hours after arriving earlier, they would leave the train immediately because the TT did not come to check the ticket on the train at that time. On the next day, Pran took the audition screen test and was also selected. When the remuneration was fixed at Rs. 500 per month, Pran Saheb demanded some money in advance and was immediately given Rs. 100.

The film 'Ziddi' was released in 1948 and his performance was appreciated by everyone. After this, Pran never looked back and became the biggest villain in the film world due to playing the character of a villain in many films one after the other. 

Pran, who has been honoured with dozens of awards in his long career, was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 2001 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013 for his outstanding contribution to Hindi cinema. Apart from this, the film industry and the audience have honoured the late actor Pran with the name 'Villain of the Millennium'.

The legendary actor Pran Sahab, who wanted to live 100 years, said goodbye to the world on 12 July 2013 at the age of 93. In 2016, his wife Shukla Sikand passed away at the age of 91. He is survived by 3 children, 2 sons Sunil Sikand and Arvind Sikand and a daughter Pinky Sikand. Sunil Sikand is a film director known for Farishta (1984) and Lakshman Rekha (1991).