Golden Era of Bollywood: Remembering PRAN -Villain of the Millennium' on his 97th Birth Anniversary

Sunday 12 February 2017

Remembering PRAN -Villain of the Millennium' on his 97th Birth Anniversary

Pran Krishan Sikand.popularly known as Pran was born on 12th Feb 1920 in Ballimaran, Kotgarh Old Delhi.He was one of the seven children.He started his career as as an apprentice with A. Das & Co., Delhi as to become a professional photographer.
He got his first role in Dalsukh M. Pancholi's Punjabi film Yamla Jat (1940) because of an accidental meeting with writer Wali Mohammad Wali at a shop in Lahore.This was followed by small roles in the film Chaudhary and Khajanchi, both in 1941. Pancholi cast him again in Khandaan (1942), which was Pran's first Hindi film. It featured him as romantic hero, opposite Noor Jehan, who had acted with him in Yamla Jat as a child artist.
Due to India's partition in 1947, his career had a brief break.Although Pran had acted in 22 films from 1942 to 1946 in Lahore; 18 were released by 1947 but he had to wait For a year, he looked for acting opportunities while doing other jobs. He worked in Delmar Hotel, Marine Drive for eight months, after which he got a chance to act in 1948.

He got a role in the Bombay Talkies' film, Ziddi which starred Dev Anand and Kamini Kaushal in the lead and was directed by Shaheed Latif. The movie launched Pran's career in Bombay. Incidentally, it proved to be Dev Anand's big break as a hero.The film was a great hit which established the career of many,Dev Anand became a star with this film similarly Pran too became star with this film. Within a week of Ziddi's success, he had signed three more films — S M Yusuf's Grihasti (1948), which became a diamond jubilee hit, Prabhat Films's Apradhi (1949) and Wali Mohammad's Putli (1949). By then, Wali Mohammad, who was responsible for Pran's first role, had come to Bombay and became a producer, setting up an office at Famous Studios, near Mahalaxmi Racecourse.
As a villain, Pran's initial successful films were Ziddi and Bari Behan (1949). Pran's trademark blowing of smoke rings first appeared in the latter film. He was regularly offered the role of the main villain or of negative character in films with Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor as the lead hero in the 1950s and 60s. From the 1950s directors like M. V. Raman, Nanabhai Bhatt, Kalidas, Ravindra Dave, I. S. Johar, Bimal Roy repeatedly cast him. Similarly in the 1960s, he was frequent in the directorial ventures of A. Bhim Singh, Shakti Samanta, Bhappi Sonie, K. Amarnath, Nasir Hussain and others.

It was Manoj Kumar who changed his image from Negative characters to Character actor with Upkar as Malang Chacha, a veteran war hero, in Manoj Kumar's film Upkar (1967). The Kalyanji Anandji song "Kasme Waade Pyaar Wafaa" was picturised on him. In this film, Pran played a more sympathetic role. He received his first Filmfare Award for Upkar. Kumar continued to cast him in pivotal roles in films such as Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Be-Imaan (1972), Sanyasi (1975) and Dus Numbri (1976).
In the 1970s, new younger directors and producers cast him in their films even though Pran asked for the highest price among supporting actors from 1968 to 1982
Pran and Ashok Kumar were very close friends in professional and real life. They acted in 27 films together in 1951–1987 starting with Afsana (1951). Their other films include Mr. X (1957), Adhikar (1971), Victoria No. 203 (1972), Chori Mera Kaam (1975) and Raja Aur Rana (1984). Sung by Kishore Kumar, the songs "Hum Bolega To Bologe Ke Bolta Hai" from Kasauti (1974), "Micheal Daru Pita Hai" from Majboor (1974), picturised on Pran, were very popular.
Pran had a six-decade career in Hindi cinema and is one of the most celebrated actors of the industry.r He appeared in over 350 films. He played the leading man in work like Khandaan (1942), Pilpili Saheb (1954) and Halaku (1956). His roles in the films like Madhumati (1958), Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960), Upkar (1967), Shaheed (1965), Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Ram Aur Shyam(1967), Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool (1969), Johny Mera Naam (1970), Victoria No. 203 (1972), Be-Imaan (1972), Zanjeer (1973), Don (1978), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Duniya (1984) are considered to be among his best performances.

His acting is said to have been effective enough to desist people naming their children 'Pran' because of his negative roles, His favourite line "Barkhurdaar" became immensely popular.He was also known for trademark blowing of smoke rings.
At the age of 78, Pran suffered a heart attack in 1998,after which he started rejecting film offers due to age-related problems.
Pran has received many awards and honours in his career. He won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award in 1967, 1969 and 1972 and was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He was awarded as the 'Villain of the Millennium' by Stardust in 2000.The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 2001 for his contributions to the arts. He was honoured in 2013 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India.
.He died on 12 July 2013 at the age of 93 of pneumonia after suffering from a prolonged illness in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital
As a Tribute to this Greatest Villain and Character artist of Bollywood I am presenting some of the songs he acted in Hindi films