When it comes to exceptional villains in Bollywood, the first person that comes to mind is Pran. In his five-decade career, Pran made more than 350 films. He frightened the audience so much that he became the biggest villain in Bollywood. February 12 is the birthday of Pran, born in Ballimaran, Delhi. In such a situation, we know some heard and some unheard things related to him.
According to an article in The Quint, Pran’s day job may have been acting, but he wasn’t an actor back then. Then he wanted to pursue a career in photography. He had also started this work in Delhi itself. He then reached Lahore from Delhi. From here on his luck changed. In Lahore, after dinner, Pran went to a paan shop to eat paan.
Here the writer Wali Mohammad Wali saw him and asked him to act. Wali felt that Pran was the right choice for him as the lead actor for his Punjabi film Yamla Jatt. Pran accepted his offer. But Pran did not reach it. In such a situation, the next time Wali and Pran met in a cinema hall, Wali got angry. He took his address from Pran and called him at his home. Pran was given the role of the villain in the film and this 1940 film proved to be a huge success.
Pran’s first Hindi film was Khandan, released in 1943. Pran played the role of hero in this film. After that, Pran came to Mumbai from Lahore. Because this was the same time when India was on the verge of independence. Pran could smell communal violence and unrest. For this reason he left Lahore. When Pran came to India, he reached Indore with his wife and son, but even though he wanted to go to Lahore, he could not return.
When he reached Mumbai, he quickly realized that his acting skills in his 20 films shot in Lahore would have no impact on the Hindi films shot in Mumbai. Back then, he even had to sell his wife’s jewelry to make a living. However, he didn’t give up and spread his acting skills in Hindi films too.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Pran charged Rs 5 to 10 lakh for a film. At that time, only two Bollywood actors received more fees than him. Shashi Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna. Pran has made more than 350 films in his 50-year career. He was very popular in films like Purba Aur Paschim, Zanjeer, Bhagyawan, Shaheed, Parichay, Naseeb and Don.