Pran

Pran Krishan Sikand started as a leading man in the early 1940s, but the shift to negative roles in 1942 unlocked something fiercer. By the late 1940s through the 1970s, his villains became the first true personification of evil on Indian screens — portrayals so intense that his given name fell out of use among newborns. He worked steadily across more than 362 films, anchoring hits like Madhumati (1958), Zanjeer (1973), and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), winning three Filmfare Awards for supporting work and easing into character roles from the late 1960s onward. The honours piled up late: Padma Bh…