Pran Birthday Special: These 10 Roles Of The Legendary Actor Prove Why There Will Never Be Another One Like Him
Had Pran been alive today, he would have been 100 years old. He has left us with a treasure trove of fantastic movies and so, we decided to take you on a tour of 10 roles of this legendary actor that can never be matched.
Pran Krishan Sikand or just Pran was one of those who knew how to make the villains look suaver than the heroes. He went dark on screen for the first time with a Punjabi film called Yamla Jat (1940). He redefined bad guys with this movie, a bad guy who looks so disarmingly good on screen. He got his first lead role opposite Noor Jehan in Khandaan (1940). So why did he became more popular for his vileness? Well, Filmfare reveals that Pran detested singing in one's own voice as was common in those days and so, he decided to stay clear of roles that needed him to romance heroines dancing around trees. Well, we are glad because Pran saab was one person who never let norms govern him and so, he easily moved on to positive supporting characters in the latter part of his career.
So if you hated him in Madhumati for trying to molest Vyajanthimala, you must have yearned for a friend like him in Zanjeer. If you sympathised with his tough act in Parichay, he must have angered you in Sanam Bewafa. Anyone who is not getting this, here's a list of roles/movies that you watch of this legendary actor who is yet to be replaced in Indian Cinema.
Aah (1953)
Pran plays a soft-spoken physician who is deeply worried about his friend Raj Kapoor's ill-health. We wanted to start with a role that didn't paint him in the usual dark shades.
Madhumati (1958)
Pran is a vicious estate baron who tries to get physical with the heroine in this reincarnation drama. He didn't go outlandish for this role at all.
Jis Desh Mei Ganga Behti Hai (1960)
Dacoit Raka has been immortalised by Pran in this Raj Kapoor film. It was a simple story of a regular man's encounter with dreaded dacoits.
Half Ticket (1962)
You need someone to balance it out when you have a crazy Kishore Kumar on screen. Pran did that job really well while also being a stylish crook.
Ram Aur Shyam (1967)
Pran was perhaps the first whip lashing scheming person in the double role series that started with Ram Aur Shyam and went on till Chaalbaaz. Man, he was vile!
Upkar (1967)
A sudden change of course with Upkar changed a lot of things in Pran's career. Manoj Kumar's conviction that the actor will be perfect for Malang chacha is seen as a turning point in Pran's career by many. A handicapped man singing 'Kasme waadein pyar wafa sab baatein hai baaton ka kya' is still fresh in our memories.
Parichay (1972)
Hurt and angered Pran decide to discipline his rebellious grandkids in a cruel way but then someone arrives and makes it a happy family. Pran goes from being a strict father, stricter grandfather to melt away as a doting patriarch in the film with such ease that it's unbelievable.
Zanjeer (1975)
The film that made Amitabh Bachchan everything that he is today would have been a dull one without his hit friendship with Pran. The kohl-eyed gent turns a new leaf in the film and also in the industry.
Karz (1980)
A convict finishes his sentence in jail and returns to help Rishi Kapoor bring his killer to book, that was basically Pran's character but he added the charm of a tough cookie who breaks only to right the wrong.
Sanam Bewafa (1990)
Pran played the father of the heroine and Salman Khan's father-in-law here. A film about coming together of two warring families had Danny Denzongpa and Pran in perhaps one of the best roles in the 90s of two vengeful fathers. Pran was simply superlative here.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 12, 2020 09:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).