Veteran actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Danny Denzongpa and lyricist Gulzar led the Bollywood in bidding a fond farewell to legendary actor Pran, at the Shivaji Park crematorium here on Saturday afternoon.
In an atmosphere suffused with reverence and nostalgia, Pran’s sons Arvind and Sunil performed the last rites in the presence of scores of mourners, comprising mainly senior Bollywood personalities, family members, friends and fans.
Ailing actor Pran Kishan Sikand — popularly known as Pran — died at lilavati Hospital at Bandra in Mumbai on Friday night, after protracted illness. He was 93 and is survived by wife Shukla, two sons Arvind and Sunil, daughter Pinky and grand children.
In a reflection of affection and veneration to an actor par excellence with whom they shared memorable moments on and off the silver screen for years on end, Amitabh, Shatrughan Sinha, Danny, Gulzar, Raza Murad, Anupam Kher and Shakti Kapoor and Kiran Kumar turned up at the Shivaji Park crematorium to pay their last respects to Pran.
Karan Johar was the lone current day Bollywood celebrity who made it to Pran’s funeral, while most of the younger actors and film personalities preferred to mourn the passing away of Pran through tweets.
No wonder that senior actor Raza Murad lamented, “Pran was a university of sorts in the world of Indian cinema. We, the tribe of villains, have turned out in full strength to pay aakhri salam to our boss. But, it is a matter of regret that the glamorous faces of Bollywood whom we call heroes and heroines are conspicuous by their absence at the funeral. These glamorous personalities could not even spare 70 minutes of their time to a man who gave 70 years of his life to the film industry and who lived roles of 400 films”.
Veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha said, “The passing away of Pran saheb is sad moment for all of us. At the same time, we are extremely proud that we had the opportunity to share the screen and moments of our lives with Pran saheb from whom we learnt a great deal”.
Amitabh Bachchan — who had a personal bonding with Pran from the days of his first Bollywood hit Zanjeer and had acted with the legendary actor in films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Kasauti, Majboor, Don, Kaalia, Naseeb, Nastik, Sharaabi, Andha Kanoon and Inquilab — paid rich tributes to the departed Dadasaheb Phalke Awardee, by describing him as “an imposing film industry edifice, a thorough professional and an admirable colleague”.
“A gentleman of the finest order... an admirable colleague... a thorough professional... a master of disguise in the characters he played... a delightful companion after ‘office hours’... and a considerate human,” Big-B wrote on his blog.
“Pran Saheb… ! Another stalwart leaves us, and this massive and imposing film industry edifice, tottering by the removal of the giant pillars that held it up, suffers another deathly blow…,” Amitabh noted.
“At this time of our lives’, as a close relative once sadly said ‘we do not make friends any more, we lose them’! What shall remain thankfully, shall be the immense volume of documented work that they leave behind, a work that has been laboured sweated and bloodied over years and years of harsh and severe commitment !,” Big-B elaborated.
“We don’t make the likes of them anymore…,” Amitabh concluded.