Bollywood’s most expensive villain, who was richer than Amitabh Bachchan, was so feared that people were afraid

It has been seen that the USP of the country’s films are always the actors. From posters to billboards, the hero dominates the marketing of films. Although he/she gets the highest fees, this does not happen often. In the 70s, when Amitabh Bachchan’s popularity was at its peak, there was a villain who was India’s highest paid actor. Who knows how many times he/she refused to play the role of a hero and remained on the screen as a villain. Even today in Bollywood, the villains leave the heroes behind on the screen and take all the credit for themselves. But it is not heard that his/her fee is more than that of the main character. But this used to happen during the era of Angry Young Man. Pran Kishan Sikand, born in 1920, is known as Pran in Hindi cinema. One of Bollywood’s best-known villains, Pran started out as a hero in Punjabi and Hindi films in the 1940s, but moved into negative roles in the late 1940s.

Had increased fees after becoming a villain, remained prominent on posters

From then till the 1980s, Pran was the number one villain in Hindi cinema, who showed his/her magic in films like ‘Ram Aur Shyam’, ‘Madhumati’, ‘Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai’ and ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’. By the late 60s, Pran started appearing prominently on posters. his/her inclusion in films was advertised. Due to this the actor had also increased his/her fees.

Jeetendra used to charge more fees than Dharmendra and Sunil Dutt.

According to ‘Sakal Times’, from 1968-82, he/she charged several lakhs of rupees for each film, which featured popular actors of that time like Manoj Kumar, Jeetendra, Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, Vinod Khanna and even Amitabh Bachchan. The fees were more than Rs. For some time, Rajesh Khanna was the highest paid actor in India. But after his/her superstardom suddenly ended in the mid-70s, Pran took over.

Amitabh Bachchan finally got to increase his/her fees

Pran remained on top until Amitabh Bachchan increased his/her fees to more than Rs 12 lakh in the early 80s. Even when Pran was doing negative roles, he/she sometimes played positive roles. he/she was even seen in lead roles in films like ‘Halaku’. In the 60s, he/she started doing character roles in Manoj Kumar’s films like ‘Shaheed’, ‘Upkaar’ and ‘Purab Aur Paschim’. In the 70s, his/her positive roles overtook villainous roles, as he/she was seen in films like ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Victoria No. 203’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ and ‘Sharabi’.

People were afraid, never named their children

Pran was at the peak of his/her villainy in the 1950s and 60s. his/her name became famous as the ‘bad guy’ in most parts of India. Reports suggest that at that time many parents refused to name their children Pran, due to which there was a huge decline in the number of people with the name Pran in India.

Retired after heart attack and died

Pran continued to work in supporting roles throughout the 1980s and 90s, but retired from acting after suffering a heart attack in 1998. After 2000, he/she appeared in only a few guest roles. he/she died in 2013 at the age of 93.