Villain who once earned more than Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra; A name that disappeared from the birth certificate – Pran
In an industry on heroes, a person dared to play the role of a villain – and still went with more fame, respect and money than most of the major men. Pran Krishna SikandOnly known for generations of filmmakers PRANNot just acted in films – he owned the screen, often put a long shade than heroes.
His influence was that the audience also feared him off-screen. Dr. In an interview with Rajiv Vijayakar, Pran once shared, “As a villain, I was so effective that people were scared of me in real life. When I went to someone’s house in Delhi for tea, her young sister was out of my point of view. My friend later called me and said that her sister fought with her to bring a bad man to the house.”
More expensive than heroes
In a DNA report, in the late 1960s and early 1980s, Pran was not just a powerful screen appearance – it was a Bollywood financial powerhouse. At the peak of his career, he took over the command of more fees than some of the most famous stars of that time, including Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Sunil Dutt and Jitendra.
It was not from an accident. The manufacturers knew that a film with Pran added gravitas and guaranteed ticket sales. Whether he liked a relative relative, a ruthless dakit, or a mansing underworld boss, the audience liked to hate him – and could not see far away.
Refused to become a hero
The irony is that the proposals for leading roles knocked, but Pran never wooed. He was not interested in walking around the trees or facing romantic dialogues. He preferred roles with patience, substance and moral ambiguity.
It was not that he could not be a hero – he did not just wanted to be one. For him, the villain had more meat. More depth. More challenge. And this was shown in every performance given by him.
A name that disappeared from the birth certificate
The depiction of the evil of Pran was so confident, so cold, that the name “Pran” made himself a hit in the real world. In the 1960s and 70s, the parents stopped naming their sons. It became very closely associated with fear, deception, and wickedness – only how seriously the audience took his work. But over time, his image became soft. As he infected in character roles later in his career.
Pran slowly escaped from the major auxiliary roles in films during the late 1980s and the 1990s. After a heart attack in 1998, he became rapidly selective about his projects. The prestigious actor died in 2013 at the age of 93, leaving behind a cinematic heritage which is unmatched.
