In a distinguished career spanning 60 years, Pran has played an enviable variety of roles, which includes acting as a villain, comedian and even a hero.

Pran happened to meet well-known filmmaker Mohammed Walli outside a "paanshop" in Lahore where he was learning still-photography. This meeting changed young Pran Kishen Sikand's life forever.

Walli found the young man's face interesting and recommended him to his friend, Dalsukh Pancholi, who cast him as a villain in his Punjabi film Yamla Jat (1940). Another Punjabi film Chaudhary (1941) followed, where Pran played the villain again. Both these films were hits and Pancholi next cast Pran as the hero in his next film, Khandaan (1942).

Even though Khandaan was a major hit and Pran was flooded with offers to play hero, Pran turned them all down, because as he says he didn't fancy chasing girls around trees. Pran acted in 22 films as a villain before his career came to a pause in the wake of the partition. Accompanied by his wife and 18-month-old son, he came to Mumbai, where the going wasn't easy.

He had all but given up on a career in films, when he ran into Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Monto and the late actor Shyam, who managed to get him a villain's role in the Dev Anand-Kamini Kaushal starrer Ziddi, which was directed by Shaheed Lateef.He was paid Rs. 500 for the film, of which Pran demanded Rs. 100 in advance, to celebrate the break!

Ziddi, was followed by films like B.R. Chopra's Afsana (1951), Raj Kapoor's Aah (1953), O.P. Dutta's Malkin (1953) and Bimal Roy's Badi Bahu (1954).

Among his notable roles are the title role of Halaku (1956) and the fearsome 'Rekha' in Raj Kapoor's Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai. Having played all kinds of 'negative' characters Pran took everybody by surprise by playing a positive character in Manoj Kumar's Upkaar (1967).

More positive characters followed in films like Parichay, Ansoo Ban Gaye Phool, Zanjeer, Majdoor, Kasauti, Dus Numbri, Kaalia, Don, Victoria no. 203, Naseeband Amar Akbar Anthony. Roop Tera Mastana (1972) was his last film as a villain.

Pran even played Valmiki in a mythological entitled Luv-Kush.

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