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Legendary Bollywood actor Pran passed away last evening, 12^th July, after a spell of prolonged illness. Pran is the recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke award, the highest honour in the field of cinema in India. In his heydays the title card would usually end the cast list by reading ‘..and Pran’, almost as if it were giving him a special mention.

Pran is undoubtedly the original Sher Khan of Indian cinema and was the industry’s most memorable villain. The fact that he had a charming appearance gave the villain characters a new image and even some respect. There was a time when Pran was offered sums of money that was on par or sometimes even greater than what the lead hero was being offered.

But Pran refused to be pigeon-holed into baddie roles alone and impressed one and all by playing comic characters and also some tender hearted characters that required sensitive portrayal.

Pran had died at the age of 93 and Indian cinema will surely mourn his loss. His funeral is scheduled to take place today at Shivaji Park in Dadar.

Behindwoods offers the actor's family the deepest of condolences during this sad hour.