Saturday, July 13, 2013

Farewell Pran: Legendary actor cremated in Mumbai

Legendary actor Pran's last rites have been completed at Mumbai's
Shivaji Park crematorium.

The funeral was attended by lyricist
Gulzar, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Danny
Denzongpa, Shatrughan Sinha, Anupam
Kher and Shakti Kapoor, and director
Karan Johar.

Pran, 93, died last night in Lilavati Hospital
where he had been admitted last month. "It is indeed a very sad day
for us. The last
rites were performed by both the sons,"
his daughter Pinky told news agency PTI.

Pran received the Dadasaheb Phalke
Award this year in May. He was unable to
travel to Delhi to receive the award at the
presentation ceremony because of ill
health. He was given the award at his
home in Mumbai the next day.

Pran, star of films such as Zanjeer and Amar Akbar Anthony , began his
career as a hero in Punjabi films, made a
tremendous impact on Bollywood as the
villain in Dilip Kumar's Ram Aur Shyam and was the first actor to break
stereotype by playing character roles as
well. In the '70s, there was almost no
major film that did not feature Pran and
he was often higher paid than the hero.
Pran was credited with making the role of the villain as important as
the hero's, and
was known for his sophistication and style
on screen.

Pran was also credited with helping actor
Amitabh Bachchan get his biggest break - Zanjeer, which marked the
rise of the Angry Young Man and made Amitabh
Bachchan famous. Pran played one of his
best known roles - the Pathan Sher Khan -
in Zanjeer. He and Amitabh Bachchan formed a long and successful screen
partnership after Zanjeer and struck up a lifelong friendship. Pran
made one of his
last public appearances at Amitabh
Bachchan's 70th birthday party in October
last year.

Pran's other famous films include Madhumati, Half Ticket, Upkar, Kashmir Ki
Kali, Don, Karz, Naseeb and Shahenshah. He last appeared on-screen in
1997's Mrityudaata.

He is survived by his wife Shukla,
daughter Pinky, and sons Arvind and Sunil.

No comments:

Post a Comment