Next person biography:
Pran, a renowned character actor in Indian cinema, was born on February 12, 1920, in Delhi. He was educated at various institutions, including Kapurthala, Unnao, Meerut, Dehradun, and Rampur, due to his father's profession as a Government Civil Contractor for road and bridge construction. Pran's early career began with learning photography in Lahore, where he had a chance encounter with a film producer, leading to his first break in the 1940 film "Yamla Jat".
Married to Shukla in 1945, Pran had two sons, Arvind and Sunil, and a daughter, Pinky. At the time of India's partition in 1947, Pran moved to Mumbai and restarted his film career after a brief struggle. He went on to act in over 400 films, playing a wide range of roles. As a villain, he instilled fear in audiences, but also won hearts as the lovable "Mangal chacha" in "Upkar". Pran worked with leading actors of various decades, including Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, and Salman Khan.
Pran was a sports enthusiast and a good sportsman, financing his own football team, "Dynamos Football Club", for several years in the 1950s. Alongside his film career, he was involved in various social activities, including the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Maratha Sikshan Sanatha, Film Industry Welfare Trust, and charity events and cricket matches. He also organized the "Hope 86" and "Hope 87" shows for those in need within the film industry.
Under the patronage of Late His Excellency Nawab Ali Yawar Jung, Pran presented several charity shows for refugees from Bangladesh and the deaf and dumb. Throughout his illustrious career spanning over six decades, Pran received numerous awards, including four Filmfare Awards, the Villain of the Millennium honor from Stardust, the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award from the Government of India in 2000, and the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement, the highest honor for cinema in India, from the Government of India in 2012. Pran passed away on July 12, 2013, at the age of 93, after a prolonged illness in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital.
