Mumbai: Legendary actor Pran Kishan Sikand, popular as Pran, breathed his last at the Lilavati Hospital here late last evening following prolonged illness, his son said. He was 93.
Pran’s condition had been frail for the past few months and he had been in and out of the hospital several times. He was reportedly last admitted to Lilavati Hospital just a week ago.
“He passed away at Lilavati Hospital at around 8.30 pm,” his son Sunil said.
The last rites will be conducted today at noon at Shivaji Park.
In a career spanning six decades, Pran acted in more than 400 movies.
He was chosen to receive the 44th Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement. He couldn’t travel to Delhi to collect the award at the 60th National Film Awards ceremony, but was presented the award at home by Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari.
The actor started his career as a photographer in 1940, and it was a chance meeting with a film producer that landed him his debut role in a film called Yamla Jat.
Later, when he moved from Lahore to Bombay with the help of renowned writer Saadat Hasan Manto and actor Shyam, Pran got a break in Bombay Talkies’ film Ziddi, in which Dev Anand played the lead role.
He played the villain as convincingly in films like Madhumati, Ziddi and Ram Aur Shyam as he slipped into character roles like the lovable Malang Chacha in Upkar. Among his memorable movies are Azaad, Devdas, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Aadmi, Munimji, Amardeep, Chori Chori, Chhalia, and Zanjeer.
IANS
