The Bollywood actor's villains were menacing but also interesting, and sometimes even funny

Pran Sikand in Mumbai last year. The Bollywood actor 'turned the Hindi film villain into a human being'. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Real-life villains end their lives "unwept, unhonoured, and unsung". With the make-believe villains of screen and stage it is often another story, their deaths provoking an outpouring of regret and even love. Such is the case with Pran Sikand, the most celebrated of Bollywood villains, who died last week at the age of 93. In more than 400 films over 60 years, he played many roles, even romantic leads on occasion, but it was as a villain that he excelled. His villains were not simply dark. They were menacing but also interesting, and sometimes even funny. He turned the Hindi film villain into a human being, an accomplishment recognised in 2000 when he was named "villain of the millennium" in the Stardust awards that garland the best efforts of the Indian film industry. He was such a good bad guy that during his most villainous phase, Indian mothers were said to be reluctant to name their sons Pran. Quite an achievement.

The Guardian, Wednesday 17 July 2013