Pran: Bollywood's quintessential villain dies at 93

Veteran Bollywood actor Pran, who played the dreaded villain and lovable character with elan in hits like 'Milan', 'Madhumati', 'Bobby', 'Zanjeer' and 'Ram Aur Shyam', passed away at a suburban hospital in Mumbai on July 12 evening at the age of 93.

"He died after a spell of prolonged illness," his daughter Pinky said. He was admitted to Lilavati hospital a month ago after his health started deteriorating, she said. His funeral will be held tomorrow noon at Shivaji Park in Dadar.

The veteran actor, who had a six-decade-long career that saw him performing in over 400 films, was conferred the country's highest cinema honour -- Dada Saheb Phalke award -- in April. Pran left his imprint as a villain with powerful roles in films like ‘Kashmir ki Kali’, ‘Khandaan’, ‘Aurat’, ‘Bari Behen’, ‘Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai’, ‘Half Ticket’, ‘Upkar’, ‘Purab Aur Paschim’, ‘Don’ 'Karz' and 'Naseeb'. Born on February 12 in 1920 in old Delhi, Pran Krishan Sikand was educated at places like Kapurthala, Unnao, Meerut, Dehradun and Rampur as his father Lala Kewal Krishnan Sikand was in government service. Initially, Pran wanted to become a photographer but destiny had different plans for him. A chance meeting with a film producer got him his first break in Punjabi film 'Yamla Jat' in 1940.

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There was no looking back for the actor after that as he went on to star in films like 'Chaudhary' (1941), 'Khandan' (1942), 'Kaise Kahun' (1945) and 'Badnami (1946). After Partition, Pran came to Mumbai with his wife Shukla and sons Arvind and Sunil but found it difficult to get work as an actor in the city of dreams.